Behind The Thorns
by Falzar the Wright
Summary: A Ryu X Rose multi-chapter story. As Rose questions her foundation of existence, she travels with Ryu to discover who she is as a person. Ryu with his own situation decides to take her as a traveling companion to see the world through his eyes. Appearances from other Street Fighter characters. 2nd multi-chapter story from me
1. The Seed of A New Beginning

I like Rose, I may not use her as much but I like her. My second multi-chapter story which focuses on the existentialism of Rose and how her starting journey with Ryu. I don't believe anyone has done a Rose/Ryu pairing do I decided to take it myself. I thought about how she would be introduced in the first chapter and I thought of something; I could fuse part of her Alpha 3 ending with part of her SF4 ending. Switch up a little things and there you go. Hopefully, I can make this story enjoyable for anyone who is a fan of Street Fighter. Enjoy reading and I will try my best to update whenever possible.

"One has to accept pain as a condition of existence. One has to court doubt and darkness as the cost of knowing. One needs a will stubborn in conflict, but apt always to the total acceptance of every consequence of living and dying."- Morris West

* * *

As she drifted in the void of her mind, the only thing she could see was darkness, everything was devoid of light. She wondered why she was there; possibly thinking of her spirit transitioning from the world of the living to the world of the forgotten.

Rose was now in a sea of nothingness. A tsunami of thoughts had crashed against her like she a yacht near treading waters. All those thoughts were reminiscent of a man she saw in her dreams. Why this man in particular, she didn't even know the answer to that question herself.

The Italian fortuneteller then questioned herself for why she had this bizarre fascination with a man she had never met before in her life. She was a simple fortuneteller of Genoa, Italy that possessed the power of fate and astrology in her predictions. Many of the people who did come to her did surprisingly did see good fortune and thanked her that she was able to see the future for them for many things. As much as she enjoyed fortunetelling, she found it a bit ironic that her powers would not work as best as it when it came to her future. The soul power that she possessed was something that normal people couldn't trifle with seeing that they wouldn't be able to fully grasp on what power it gave to the wielder.

Be that as it may, she was content with her life. She lived well and was able to provide for herself because of her gift. Even though this was the case, she couldn't help but feel...empty. She felt that something was missing within her, a vital piece that would give her answers about who she was. She didn't know why but she questioned her existence; she felt that something was off about her. She had no close family, relatives or many people that knew of her origin. When she would ask somebody that cared for her, they would feign obliviousness in order to move from the question. It was strange to her but she accepted their answers.

Seeing that she wouldn't find her answers in Italy, she decided to go on her own personal journey to find where she came from. Her existence was something that she felt ashamed to question because she was a person in her own right as much as the next person. She then heard of a man, a very sadistic man who went by the name of M. Bison. When she read stories about him being the leader of Shadaloo, a very prestigious crime organization, she figured that maybe by meeting this particular person, her answers would finally be answered.

Word of a tournament had caught her ear and it piqued her interest. The reason was because of the person throwing the tournament, Bison himself. Seeing this as an opportunity for her satisfaction and personal interest, she went to the tournament. As she finally met the man that held her answers, for some reason she felt this ominous pressure that made her feel like Atlas heralding the world on his back. His dark energies made her feel like earthy night-crawlers crawling up her spine and planning to drag her within the contours of the earth. As much as she knew he was powerful, she wouldn't falter in asking him how they were related.

Bison was amused at her tenacity for her answers and amused was a word that wasn't synonymous with his person. He told her of how Shadaloo was constructed, the crimes they performed in the world, the story of her "birth". That she was a part of him, a side of benevolence, light and warmth that previously was inside him. A side that he had to expunge from his body to become the man he was today. An error that was unforeseen was that he couldn't erase her completely so he molded that kindness to become a person and henceforth, life was given to Rose.

Now hearing the meaning to her existence, she froze. Her existence meant nothing because she originated from a man like Bison; a man the world hated and held many enemies in regards to him. She always wondered why when she saw him, her heart would feel like it had palpitations, her thoughts would blank out and her soul power would fluctuate in levels that she couldn't comprehend. She was part of Bison, a man of darkness who wanted to purge all light and usher in a new world of darkness and conquer all who opposed his word. She felt like nothing at all, she felt like a copy that was not meant to exist.

Then why was she here?

Now finally telling her the truth, Bison told her that she served her purpose and he had no use to keep her alive. Hearing this, her instincts had perked up and was ready to battle him if it meant to stay alive and reclaim her existence. They battled while the tournament went on and it was a swift one too; Rose's soul power was no match for his psycho power. Bison now had her at his mercy ready to take her out in which he did with a soul-shattering blow to her body.

As he was about to finish her off, an unknown being had come out of nowhere from the shadows and whisked her off in a stealthy manner that Bison would not bother with, he had more important matters to attend to that would accelerate his process in claiming the world for himself. The person then saw that Rose was unconscious and felt something off about her, her soul felt weak and in disarray.

The person that saved her from her imminent destruction was none other than Guy Hinato, a ninja of the Bushinryu clan who hailed from Metro City. Guy heard from his master about Bison and his associates' actions that put the world in a distortion of balance and was claiming innocent lives. He met Rose one time and she told him of her plan with Bison which he said was a suicide mission. He then looked at her now and left her in a place where she was safe from harm as he went back to the tournament.

During the tournament, many fighters had targeted Bison because of their own individual pain he put them through and his power that was sovereign. The destruction of Bison had come and Shadaloo had finally been destroyed due to the efforts of all the fighters and outside allies. Shadaloo's influence on the world was washed away and it held a new dawn for the future, whatever that future may be.

Guy knew he had an obligation to Metro City and the Bushinryu clan so he could not take her with him. He had an idea to keep her safe though, he gave her person to a man that he knew had the power to care for her and protect her in case Bison ever came back with a new agenda. The man was Ryu, a warrior of pride and strength. He saw the power he exhibited before and during the tournament and knew that he would be a perfect confidante for Rose's safety.

Fast forwarding now, Rose's mind was in an ocean of thoughts and she felt like she was going to drown trying to understand what happened. She thought that she was dead but her conscious told her otherwise. She didn't know why she was still alive, she felt like she was dead already after finding out the truth to her existence.

Existence, a word she had questioned fro some time now. She was only a being that existed because she was excess material that wasn't needed. How exactly could that determine she was supposed to exist? These thoughts just came at her full force. She recalled the memories of a flux of negative emotions, she had to escape because of the suffocation of this darkness.

She woke up.

She took in her surroundings and observed where she was. She was surrounded by trees, the star-covered sky and a roaring fire coming from a pile of wood gathered in a clearing.

She got up and moaned seeing that she suffered from more than a headache and felt that her powers were completely out of sync seeing that the blow from Bison really left an impact on her. Seeing if her powers would be restored to the state they were before, she used her eyes and she saw that the souls of the living were distorted which indicated that she needed time to get her power back to her full strength.

When she did get up, she saw only one person: Ryu. During her travels, she had heard of the man that was revered as a prominent figure in the world of fighting because of his win against the legendary Muay Thai practitioner, Sagat. She took a good look at him; the man was wearing just a white sleeveless gi with a duffel bag and was barefoot. Her only question was how he could travel so simple but somehow hold some aura of mystery to him? Why was he here, was he the one that saved her from her much expected death?

Now getting herself back together, Rose tried to stand up only to end up collapsing back on the ground. When Ryu saw this, he ended up rushing to her aid trying to see if she was okay.

"Whoa, you alright there? You should take it easy, you've been unconscious for almost two days."

Two days? Rose couldn't believe she was asleep for so long but then she also was not surprised that this was not a normal slumber. She was still feeling it even though her body felt like it was okay. She just remembered to see if her physical body was okay in which she felt around her midsection and to her surprise, there was no hole or any deformity around it, it was like she was never injured at all. She couldn't push herself even if she willed herself to, her body had other ideas which included much needed rest and time to regain her soul powers back.

"Where am I exactly?" Rose inquired now on the ground.

"Kyoto, Japan." Now sitting next to her, Ryu decided to stay next to her for the time being to make sure she was okay. Being struck by Bison was like being hit by the force of a devil incarnate so he understood why she collapsed longer than usual.

Japan? How was that even possible? The last place she remembered was Thailand which was where the tournament was held and where the Shadaloo organization were. When did she get to Japan and how did she get there? She tried to recollect the events of what happened before she passed out but her powers were so weak that she didn't have much success in doing so.

'I'm still weak. My soul powers are not coming to me. It seems that the gods decided it was not my time yet.' Rose had thanked the heavens and space above for sparing her, she felt that it was not due for her to leave this mortal plane just yet.

Moving past her physical state, she wanted to know what happened with Bison. Seeing as Ryu was with her while she was unconscious maybe she could get some answers to her question.

"Excuse me, do you know of what happened back at Shadaloo? Or whatever happened to Bison? I must know." She had this look in her eye that showed that she was very serious in asking those questions.

Seeing that she was in dire need of answers, Ryu decided to tell her. It seems that Bison's reputation of terror preceded him no matter where he went. Rose was one of those exact situations.

Ryu looked down to the ground as he prepared to answer her. "Bison is no more."

Rose had thought her ears were playing tricks on her. She swore that she heard Ryu just say that Bison was dead, gone, rid of in this world. Even though, she wanted to believe that, for some reason, she had her doubts about those words. Bison was far from a normal human being, he was someone that could not be taken lightly because of his power and his influence in the world. It was an eerie feeling that she hoped she didn't have but it was there.

"You say Bison is gone forever? I'm sorry but I believe that's far from the truth, I hoped it could be true though. He's not someone that could be easily defeated." Rose's tone was in a forlorn and despondent tone that could make the brightest person look down.

"Why can't you believe that? Is it hard to believe that Bison is gone for good? That his tyranny and darkness doesn't cloud the skies as the days go by?" Ryu wanted to look at the positive side right now. Deep down, he knew that she could be right but he felt that optimism made things simpler for the moment.

Even though Rose wanted to believe it was true, she just couldn't bring herself to do it. It was strange to her, it was like she could feel Bison's energy somewhere and also not sense it. This paradox was most likely caused by her soul powers temporarily vanishing.

As much as she wanted to focus on Bison, she had other questions she needed answers to. Why was Ryu taking care of her and why was she in a forest in Japan in the first place?

"Ryu, why are you helping me? Why did you not leave me to perish? As a man of respected strength, you should leave me alone and save yourself." She felt that it would be best for her to be left alone and not have people brought down close to her because of her connection to Bison.

Ryu understood what she meant but he couldn't bring himself to just leave this woman alone. He knew that she was alone and he heard of her connection to Bison but he wasn't able to comprehend it so he decided to find out himself.

"What do you mean? You're a kind person and there should be no reason that I'm saving you. Well, to be honest, it wasn't even me who saved you but somebody else that left me to take care of you."

It wasn't even Ryu that saved her but he was now taking care of her. If he didn't save her then who did? "Wait, then who saved me then if not you?"

"His name is Guy, I' believe that you've met him before because he told me he tried to prevent you from meeting Bison." Hearing this, she did remember Guy who tried to do exactly that: stop her. She ended up moving past him seeing that she needed answers.

"I see. Do you know where Guy is now?"

"He went back to Metro City as he told me. He believed that I could watch over you much better than he could. In all honesty, I kind of find that a bit hard to believe." He then sat across a log watching the night sky. Ryu didn't know why but he was fascinated by the cosmos in the sky, it had an ethereal, calming and mysterious feel to him.

Rose stayed quiet thinking too much about what happened two days ago. She had finally encountered Bison only to have him defeat her with ease and almost rid her of her life. Now she knew what the innocent felt like when their lives were taken by him and Shadaloo. She felt the ghastly cries of the innocents from the underworld and she could see what Gen was talking about when he said he could hear the sounds of the netherworld beckoning for his descending. When she heard the cries, she swore she could see their spirits arisen from the earth to pull her back as an atonement for what Bison did to them; taking everything from them, their loved ones, their homes and their lives. She figured they had all reason to bring her to them, she was a part of Bison after all. She wanted to fight it, to show she was nothing like Bison at all but her own person but even that existence she so sought after was fleeing from her at the moment.

She wanted to sleep and let darkness take her until she felt Ryu hold her up and lean her against the log so she can retain some vitality before she started moving. "Easy there, you still have to recover from your injuries. It's best you rest before you try moving again." Even though she may have slept for two days, it was not a recovering sleep but a sort of state that she had to go into to ensure her life would continue.

"I need to be by myself for some time. If you don't mind?" Rose requested of Ryu. She hoped he would understand.

"It's understandable. Your name's Rose if I'm correct?"

"Yes, it is. How did you discover my name?"

"Guy told me before he left you in my care. It's a nice name." His statement was very sincere.

"Thank you." It was a sad tone but it had some sincerity to it.

Seeing that she still somewhat had a melancholic mood, he went over to the fire to get her something to eat. Ryu had caught some fish earlier before setting up camp for both of them to eat. Due to his training and adventures in the wildlife, he knew how to search for food and be in tune with his surroundings. Right as he was talking to her, he made sure to see if the fish was burning but it was still slowly cooking but looked good enough to eat. The fish were impaled on wooden sticks and he blew softly on the fish to lower the heat. He hoped that some food would help lift her spirits.

He then went to her with the fish, "I'm sure you must be hungry by now seeing that you've been asleep for the past two days. Would you like some fish?"

Rose looked at the fish but put her hand up seeing that she wasn't hungry, "I'm sorry, I appreciate your gesture for sustenance but to be very truthful, I'm not really hungry. There are too many other things that I'm thinking about and food is not one of them. Thank you though."

"Are you sure? You haven't had anything to eat for some time." Ryu knew that she could possibly be hungry but he didn't want to force her to eat if she didn't want to.

The fortuneteller nodded. Her appetite was not there as her mind was still wandering in the void of her inner space. She then looked up to the sky and thought about the future, what would become of her? She felt her fortunetelling would help so she took out a card from her dress. The card had the image of The Fool. It was the card that she coincidentally took out before her pursuit of Bison. A completely neutral card it was, it could either have positive or negative significance. Right now, she felt like a fool for even going after Bison but then she was somehow content with getting her answers even though they were answers that mad her question her existence.

She then took out another card, it had the moon on it. The Moon card symbolized uncertainty. She felt that this card signified her current moment because of her uncertainty in life. She was uncertain of herself, what she did, the people she knew, and she felt uncertain for the future. This uncertainty didn't drive her mad but it caused her to distance away from others to ensure that they were safe, no more people had to die for unnecessary reasons. The moon was like a part of her in the sky; like the moon, she was mysterious, emotional, and perceptive. Even if it was a pure coincidence she drew The Moon card, she did feel proud to feel like the moon. Maybe one night, the light of the moon's rays would wash away Bison's hold on her.

"Rose, I know that you'll be hungry later so I'll save this fish for you whenever you want to eat. I understand you must be tired." He went over to his duffel bag and pulled out a futon. He figured she would need it more than him seeing that she was on the ground for quite some time. He laid it out for her to use and lifted her a bit so she could feel as comfortable as possible.

Rose was nonetheless surprised at Ryu's kindness. She knew he was a good person but he had something to him that she just couldn't exactly pinpoint. Maybe when she felt better in the daytime then she could find out. As of now, rest was the most important thing.

"Thank you Ryu. What will we do when morning comes by?"

"Well, we'll be leaving this forest and going to the city. Hopefully, you'll be in the mood to eat. Well, good night Rose." He looked at the fire and then laid upon the log for him to rest. Luckily, before he didn't have a futon, sleeping against the log was a secondhand thing to him. As the intensity of the fire went down, they both went to sleep.

The dawn of the morning had finally arrived. Rose was the one to open her eyes and take in the crisp woodland air, it was serenely quiet which made her mood a bit more positive than last night. Now stretching her body, she got up in which she was surprised because of her previous physical state.

"I can finally walk, now let me see if my soul power has returned to me." She conjured up some power to form a soul orb in her hand. A little sphere-shaped form of energy came to the palm of her hand but she was not able to keep it stabilized for long. The energy dissipated after a minute, she still felt it from Bison's attack but it did give her some form of satisfaction to know that she had regained some of her power back.

After her attempt at regaining her powers, she looked towards the direction that Ryu was positioned yesterday and saw that he wasn't there. Confused, she used her perception powers to try to locate him, her powers were still weak so she couldn't pinpoint his location. She went into a part of the forest until she heard the sound of splashing water and walked towards the source.

Finally navigating the path she was traveling, she stumbled upon Ryu. She stopped at a tree to watch the warrior in a lake. He was shirtless washing himself with the crystal clear water in only boxers. Rose watched as the droplets of water traveled down upon his chest and torso and was very impressed by his physique. She knew he was strong but to see him like this was unexpected. As much as she knew he had a well-toned physique, she then moved from where she was and went down to the edge of the lake.

"Ryu!"

Hearing his name, he looked up to see Rose near the lake. He had a smile seeing that she was finally able to walk, "Oh Rose, good morning. I see that you're feeling better and that you're able to walk now. Have your powers returned to you yet?"

"I feel my powers returning to me but unfortunately I'm not strong enough to form anything yet. It seems Bison's attack did more than just put me to sleep."

Ryu's smile turned to a face of seriousness hearing that. "I'm sorry to hear that. At least you're able to walk. Don't worry, they'll return to you soon."

It was a bit strange for her powers to be gone for this amount of time since something like this never happened to her before. She figured that Ryu was right; her powers would come back at the right moment. This morning was only a hint of that actually happening.

"So when will we leave for the city?" Rose inquired.

"Soon, I'm done with my washing and I believe it's best for you to get some food seeing that you didn't eat at all last night." As he put the last splash of water on him, he picked up the top of his gi and walked towards the place where he set up camp.

Now at the campsite, Ryu went behind a tree and changed his clothes coming out in a white t-shirt and black sweatpants but still remained barefoot. Now packing his stuff up, he and Rose were walking to the city of Kyoto. After almost two hours of walking, they finally reached the inner city of Kyoto.

Seeing that it was not his first time being here, he brought Rose to a restaurant he favored and was willing to pay for her food. He knew she must have been a bit famished after sleeping for two days. After getting the food, they both went to a shrine to sit and relax. The shrine was quiet and held an ambient atmosphere which they both needed, especially Rose. Sitting down on a bench, they both held their food but Rose was more hesitant in eating it.

Seeing this, Ryu stopped his eating and turned towards her trying to figure out what was wrong. "Rose, is there something wrong?"

She looked up to the blue sky as she heard him and simply said, "I shouldn't be here. I'm not meant to exist."

"What do you mean? You're clearly here right now with me."

"You do not understand Ryu. My existence is false and artificial. I'm only here because Bison did not need what I represented."

"Explain if you can, please." He then moved a bit further hoping that she would tell him what she meant by her existence was false.

"Ryu? What does it mean to exist?" She looked up into the sky thinking that if Ryu couldn't answer than maybe the heavens would bless her with one.

He thought about it and gave her an answer. "To exist is to simply be here, I believe. Think about the plants, they come from a seed planted deeply into the earth with the help of the sun, water and care. Living beings create other living beings not just for their will but because they would care for them. To exist is to be conscious of your own awareness and to know that you occupy a space. Well, that's what I believe. If you met my master, I'm sure he would give you a better answer. Why do you ask?"

"Knowing that you were part of somebody like Bison, you tend to question your entire being."

Ryu was surprised hearing that she was part of Bison. Even if that was the case, he could still see her as a person than a part of somebody. He felt like that she had every right to question her existence but that did not make her any less of a person.

"Rose, you may have been part of Bison but that shouldn't be defined for who you are. He's gone yet you're still here, shouldn't that be enough to help define you are?" He hoped his worlds would comfort her at least a bit.

"Even if that is the case, I felt like it was my destiny to perish at Bison's hands. I was no match for his power. It's just...I have no idea about how to go with this."

"Rose, you **do** know who you are. You and Bison have lived two separate lives due to the difference of your actions. Bison was a man who committed acts against humanity while you lived as a fortuneteller who helped people wherever you went. You are your own person because you were the one to determine the decisions you made; you have your own will and personality. Be proud of yourself for who you are than to live in somebody's shadow."

Rose was amazed at Ryu's words, she never thought his words would comfort her uneasiness. Even though she would feel a bit down and out due to being formerly part of the dictator, it was better for her to embrace who she was and look towards the future and what it held. The stars would rise in the night then vanish in the day but that didn't mean they were gone forever, as long as night still existed, the stars would eventually make its way back to the sky. Rose thought of those stars as a bright light through the darkness known as Bison and that it would illuminate the way to peace for her conscience.

"Thank you, Ryu. You really are one of the kindest people in the world. I'm sure your master is proud of the man that you are."

"I hope he is. I still need to train to become the best warrior I can be. Many unknown challenges await me out there and I hope to face each one as I've been doing up until this point."

Rose respected Ryu's determination, she knew about his past encounters with different fighters across the world. Ranging from his childhood friend/rival Ken Masters to the King of Muay Thai, Sagat, and the man desired more in battle. This attribute of him was part of the reason in why Bison kept such a watchful eye on him and his conquests.

"Ryu, do you know how Bison was destroyed exactly?"

"He was destroyed by a man named Akuma. A man who has been searching for me for a long time as long as I've traveled the world. It seems that Bison also desired to capture the Satsui no Hado for himself and utilize it."

"Akuma, the man known as the Master of the Fist. It would only seem fit that a man of equal if not more darkness would be able to extinguish Bison's life force. Why did he do it though?"

Ryu knew this man too well. He was the man of the murderous fist who had scoured the earth in hopes of him to succumb to the power to face him on equal footing. The man who murdered his master as a message to prepare for his arrival. It was not surprising to see a man with so much power take down Bison.

"He was searching for me. He must have saw Bison as an obstacle and decided to punish him for his interference. I never thought he would go so far just to battle me."

"Why would he want to fight you, Ryu?"

"There is something inside of me. He wants me to embrace this power and let it consume my whole being for a fight to the death. It's the reason why my master died at his hands."

"Oh, I'm sorry I asked Ryu." She could see why Ryu traveled alone around the world. It was probably a subconscious way to keep the people he cared for away from harm's way and to make sure that he was not the reason that they did not get involved in his problems. They deserved at least that much.

"It's ok Rose. That is part of the reason why Ken and I keep training, to make sure that we can overcome any challenge that comes our way."

Rose knew Ryu was a very serious and quiet man judging by the demeanor of his character. She knew that he had this power inside him that just laid dormant and that it was one that emanated a very uncomfortable feeling from it. That sense of determination could be sensed from him and it made her appreciate who he was a bit more. That determination was probably one of the reasons why Bison desired to usurp his body from him and claim it as his own.

"I believe that it is your destiny to be strong. It is also your destiny to save yourself before you consume yourself with hatred and despair like Bison did. I do not think the world needs another man like him if I do say so myself."

Ryu could understand Rose's words, with all the chaos that ensued within his presence, the world was much better off with Bison gone and hoped that another figure like him would never appear on the face of the earth again. He knew that Rose was a good person; mystic and mysterious she was but nonetheless a good person who had her own identity as well as her own humanity to live by.

"You have your life to live by as well as I'm sure you're feeling hungry now seeing that your mood has changed from last night."

Seeing that he was right, she forgot about the crepe that Ryu bought for her and took a bite. She swore that it tasted better because he stayed with her and because he actually looked out for her well-being by taking caring for her these past few days. With all that went on in life, she started to have a different view on humanity.

Now finished with the food, the two took in the atmosphere of the shrine; it was celestial, serene, and undisturbed with the sounds of the dangling wind chimes. Ryu was one who was all too familiar with shrines seeing that he had met or challenged some people throughout his journey around the world which was an experience he was very grateful for having. He felt that this tranquility could move his mind from Bison and Akuma. Rose had never been to Japan before and she was impressed by the air of divinity that surrounded the shrines which also made her think about the figures in the sky that she looked up to.

After spending time at the shrine, both Ryu and Rose left the shrine and walked down to the street level. Ryu felt like it was time for them to go their separate ways as they did before the Shadaloo tournament.

Rose now understood Ryu's quest into challenging numerous fighters from all over the world. In all honesty, she knew that Ryu would probably never stop challenging people. His code of fighting was unique, he didn't fight for fame, riches, evil or any superficial reason that could dissuade him from his journey, and he simply wanted to become the best fighter he could ever be. Never had she seen someone who possessed so much ambition and motivation to be the best person they could ever be.

Now finally out of the shrine, Ryu held his duffel bag ready to depart on his next conquest. He knew Rose was a powerful woman herself so he had some relief in leaving her alone to her own journey.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Rose. I hope you're safe on your way back to Italy. Remember, do not let the past determine who you are as a person. We are all given many chances in life and yours is no different from anybody else's. Only you can be you, just remember that and everything will fall into place. Until we meet again, farewell Rose." With those last few words, he started to walk off on the cement paved road thinking of his next voyage.

For some reason, when Rose heard that, she felt a bit saddened. The problem was that she didn't know why she did but she did. It was like Ryu's presence calmed her a bit and made her feel tranquil and more optimistic about herself. She didn't want Ryu to leave so she did the first thing that came to her mind.

"Ryu." As soon as he heard his name being called, he ceased his movements and turned around. He then saw Rose walking up to where he stood.

When she finally reached him, she stared into Ryu's eyes to see who he was and it was exactly as kind as she assumed it to be. She put her hand on his chest and felt her soul resonate with his and it was such a warm feeling that she hadn't felt in a long time and it made her feel blissful for meeting Ryu and knowing who he was.

Ryu knew Rose was an attractive woman but he never really focused on romance seeing that it was only a hindrance in his journey. He didn't know why she started putting her hand on his chest all of a sudden but he didn't disapprove or anything, he simply let her continue what she was doing.

After she was done peering into his soul, she lifted her hand off his chest and smiled at Ryu which left him confused for a bit. "Ryu, you have an exceptional light within you."

He was confused by what she meant, "What do you mean?"

"You have a unique light within you that refuses to go out, a light that fights through the darkness underlying in your heart, a light that can be quickly spread to the people you encounter and a light that I'm proud to have found lying within somebody like you." She was so amazed at how much benevolence Ryu possessed inside him that she wanted to accompany him to experience his interactions with society and nature.

Ryu heard her words and looked down to the ground before speaking, "Your words are appreciated Rose, but I'm not the man who you claim to believe I am. Right now, I'm wrestling with a very malicious presence inside me and I don't know if that presence or I will be the one to survive."

"I know you have it inside you, but the fact is that you keep it from harming anybody innocent and that you know that it's a destructive force inside but doesn't change who you are. That is the part that makes it truly impressive to me. Ryu, if possible, may I accompany you on your journey?"

Ryu was completely caught off guard with what he just heard. Did she just say that she wanted to travel with him?

"You want to travel with me, but why? I'm sure you would be satisfied if you went back to Italy and continued on with your life before you knew Bison existed. Besides, I've been traveling the world by myself which I've pretty much assimilated to. I think it would be best if we returned to our original lives. Wouldn't you think so?"

It wasn't like Ryu to be so blunt with his words nor was he trying to be harsh with them but it was the only way he felt that he would've been able to convey his message to the violet-haired fortuneteller. Thinking that she would've gotten the message, what she did next also caught him off guard, she started to chuckle a bit.

After she calmed down on her chuckling, she looked to Ryu and smiled while placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Ryu, I'm sure that this is something that I want to do. I want to see the world as you see it, you are a simplistic man who doesn't have much but you have your own set of moralities and philosophies which makes up for your lack of materialistic possessions. I want to see how you are able to fare in this world and too be honest, it would be interesting to experience this myself seeing as I have the power to look at the fate of any individual. Ryu, allow me to do so. Who knows, maybe your light will help me be rid of Bison's presence once and for all without looking back. So please allow me to travel with you Ryu."

Stuck at a decision that would definitely affect them and their association with each other, he thought about it. Of course he wouldn't be absolutely swayed by her request but it was just very bizarre to him to hear one like it.

"Rose, do you know what you're saying?" He asked with some incredulity.

"Yes, I do. Now will you let me accompany you?" It seemed that she was very persistent even when Ryu told her that it couldn't possibly work.

Seeing that he was lost here, he made up his decision on whether he could travel with her.

"You do know that if you travel with me, there are some things that you would not be able to forget such as famine, poverty, crime and every negative attribute society has to offer. I'm asking you one more time, are you sure you want to accompany me?"

"Yes." She said this with the most absolution possible.

Seeing that she wouldn't have been swayed any way possible, he accepted her as his new traveling companion and shook hands to signify their new agreement/relationship.

Even though Ryu didn't show it, it was a bit exciting to see somebody willing to travel with him and face the world as he did. He never expected it to be Rose, a fortuneteller from Genoa, Italy. If anyone was expected, it would be Sakura, his student that held Ryu at high regards and begged for training every time he would drop by just so that she would hopefully be at her master's level one day.

"I always wondered how you were able to travel from country to country without buying many plane tickets for your trips."

"I have my passport, money, a change of clothes every now and then and Ken seems to want to give me money all the time at which I respectfully decline every time seeing that since he worked for his, I should be able to work for mine as everybody else. I'm no special than somebody who is poor or wealthy. Money is needed for security, but I believe that the more time we spend worried about our wallets is one of the times that we become more vulnerable to the seed of corruption that exists in society today."

"Well then, shall we start our journey now? I'm intrigued by what we will see." Rose said while looking into the sky.

"We might as well." With a smile, Ryu also stared into the blue and sunny sky ready for what might come their way.

As the two paths crossed, they looked forward to their new adventure. A fortuneteller and a man of many martial arts had begun their journey prepared for whatever may come their way. As they dealt with their own darkness, they knew where to go to seek the light which would cleanse away the contours of their heart. Maybe this adventure would be able to expunge the darkness in their hearts.

* * *

**A/N:** End of first chapter. I have no idea how long this story will be but I intend to update it whenever the chance is available. Rose is a pretty cool character in my eyes if I say so myself, she holds that feminine mystique I think we and other males try to break down but can't fully. More chapters will be based around their encounters and how they both help each other to deal with their own individual situation. Hopefully, you enjoy reading and some suggestions would be nice also.

As I said before, I'll post something on every story I post. I'll start calling them "Feather Drops", you know because of the whole Falzar name thing and whatever, I believe you know where I'm going with this. I believe it's much more convenient than just saying a rant or whatever but that's just me. So I'll begin with this one. Some of them discussions and some of them will be questions. Mind you, bear with me.

Feather Drop: Capcom is now up for sale!  
I just found out about this news two days ago and to be honest I'm not surprised after all these years of their questionable practices but I'm not gonna 100% bash them even though I feel it's well deserved from all the consumers who has helped Capcom become what they are today. With the whole Street Fighter X Tekken fiasco and Resident Evil 6 (a.k.a. a Michael Bay movie. I can tolerate it though.), it was expected for an inevitable backlash from the community.

Now shareholders are starting to sell shares and people desperately want Nintendo to gain MegaMan for them seeing as they're doing more with him than Capcom has been doing with him for more than five years which is sad if you really think about it. So right now, it's kind of a bidding war for Capcom's IPs and whatnot. Let's just see how this plays out for the Capcom and the gaming community because they need help, and I mean really **need** help.

There were some franchises because they up and left and never came back. Examples such as Star Gladiator, Cyberbots, Rival Schools, Dino Crisis, Ruby Heart (A character I personally like if I do say so myself), Amingo, SonSon (The stories involving her is voice enough already), Bionic Commando, Captain Commando and many other franchises that made Capcom the go-to publisher in the 90's. Unfortunately that time has passed and I don't care too much, it's either Capcom tries or they don't as they face the consequences of their actions.

A close friend of mine wants Monster Hunter to come to the west (No, I'm not talking about the one on the DS even though it is coming but one for Sony). People want an update to Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, I don't really see that happening for quite a while; hell, people want a 4 which I don't see happening and this is what I believe personally. Street Fighter 4's okay even though they did release 4 iterations of it but I find it tolerable I guess (Hell, I even bought all of the damn costume dlc excluding the 2014 Challengers Pack. Pre-order? Really Capcom? You should have learned by now). What do you think about the situation?

That's enough from me for now and don't be afraid to discuss anything. I hope you enjoy the story and are patient for my next update. Until then, peace out.


	2. Three Sharp Leaves

Well, this chapter took quite a while. Introducing original characters is never an easy concept if I say so myself. Some people might raise their eyebrow and be like "eh" and "what" but it's expected in doing so. Also, be assured I won't try to make a chapter long like this next time. It takes so much and it's even longer than the first one, that's kind of crazy if I do say so myself. I hope the people that do follow this story do stay with me and I'll try not to make it too crazy or anything like that. I'll get into the three girls in the next chapter but this is the best I can do for now.

"Without health life is not life; it is only a state of languor and suffering - an image of death."-Buddha

* * *

**Chapter 2**

It had been two days after Ryu decided to let Rose join him on his quest, the two fighters continued on their journey through Japan unsure of they were going to leave the country anytime soon. Rose still did see flashes of Bison while she slept and walked around but she tried her best to make sure that it didn't decay what humanity she had remaining inside her; it was the only thing she could genuinely call her own. The presence of Ryu helped her also. It was surprising to see how wise he was for his young age, it helped quell her worries and allowed her to look for the more positive side on their continuing journey.

After contemplating on where to go, they found themselves in the Niigata Prefecture close to the sea. After two days of traveling accompanied with some generous patrons, they found themselves in a new location wondering about what awaited them. To Ryu, it felt good to travel, it helped expand his horizons on life and understand more about the vast and different cultures of the people he met. Even though he's been in Japan many times as it was his birthplace, there were many things he had yet to encounter and with a traveling companion by his side, he was very eager to see how much of Japan had been unturned.

Rose had more of a positive outlook than she did two days ago. As she and Ryu traveled up north, she thought about her home country Italy and her neighbors. She had never been to Japan before, she heard the stories of the elegance of kimono-wearing women and numerous festivals that occurred yearly. Her fortunetelling prevented her from visiting, seeing that traveling all over Europe for people seeking her abilities to help with their own situations was very time-consuming. Now, she found herself in The Land of the Rising Sun, not alone though which she was excited for, for she was used to traveling alone. She could eat now and after staying at a hotel to cleanse herself figuratively and literally, she felt much better now than before.

Right now, they both were sitting down on a bench near a bridge and the sight they saw was very beautiful; the vivacious wildlife in the sky, sea and the earth, the atmosphere was peaceful and the environment was awe-inspiring as it reminded her of hometown and how close she was to the sea observing the fishermen traveling on their boats to catch fish to sell. Genoa was her home and she missed it greatly but she did not regret her trip to Thailand and the people she met. Now in this new part of the world, it was a new experience for her that she could shelf with her memories as she would look back and wonder if it ever really happened.

Ryu stood up along with Rose and walked to the bridge's barriers before speaking, "Welcome to Niigata. Well, I've never been here before so I guess that's applied to me also. How do you like Japan so far?"

"It has a pleasant feeling that is very reminiscent of my hometown. The fresh air calms me down and the beauty of Japan's serenity speaks to me." The crisp air mad her violet hair sail in the little gales of the town's breeze and she had to admit, it gave her a sense of freedom knowing that she was able to feel emotions and things as if she was her own person.

"It is a beautiful place, isn't it?" Ryu asked with a smile on his face. He enjoyed the outdoors as much as anybody. How could he not, he practically traveled for years by foot observing and learning more from the large amount of cultures he encountered. The sight of Niigata reminded him why he loved visiting Japan whenever the opportunity was present to him.

Even though he wanted to enjoy the pleasantries of where they were, Ryu thought it was best to keep moving. Besides, he never knew what they could possibly face if they stayed in one position for too long.

"I think its best we keep moving, wouldn't you agree?" He asked Rose.

"Yes," she responded with as she stood up. "Where should we go now?" She asked the road warrior.

"The town seems like a nice place. I believe we might encounter something in Niigata that could be interesting; I don't know why but something in my gut tells me that we'll see something exciting. Would you like to come?" He offered his hand to Rose as his way of seeing if she was okay in going with him into the center of the prefecture.

She took his hand and grasped it with a determined look on her face seeing that she was ready to proceed on their journey, "Yes, shall we continue walking?"

He nodded as his answer to her question. With a heave of his duffel bag, Rose and Ryu left the bridge's underpass and walked until they got to the bridge's entrance itself. Walking the bridge, they were able to get a better view of the massive river and were in awe by the sun's fluorescent rays bouncing off the surface and revealing the wildlife that inhabited it. It was scenes like that made them respect both the fury and allure of nature.

They walked past the bridge and continued walking for almost two hours further into the rural area of Niigata passing marketplaces, homes, and many family businesses which were the pride of this town's labor. Still walking to a destination, everything was okay until...

"Excuse me!" Yelled one man in Japanese as he zoomed right through them. They had no idea what he was in a rush for but they continued walking.

Just as they were walking, they could hear the earth tremble which could mean only one thing. They turned around and saw many people of various attributes coming towards their way: young to old, short to tall, big to small, there were just so many people coming towards them that they felt it was foolish for them to continue walking their path as their thundering footsteps continued to pave the way for wherever they were going. Ryu pulled Rose to the side to make sure that she wasn't caught in the discord of the people traveling along their way.

"Thank you, Ryu." He gave her a thumbs up as a show of his appreciation.

Wondering where this large amount of people were heading to, their curiosity eventually got the best of them. They questioned what could get the people rushing to one place; was there a crime scene, a corpse just discovered, someone getting assaulted? They proceeded to walk to whatever was causing so much commotion.

"I wonder what has these townspeople so excited." Ryu asked while rapidly walking to the location of whatever was happening.

Rose felt the same wondering what was happening at the moment. As she continued walking, her feet gradually slowed down until she completely stopped. She didn't know why but she had a strange feeling of what they were approaching.

Still a bit skeptical of what was ahead, she took out three tarot cards aided by her soul powers. The three consisted of following: The Seven of Wands, The Ace of Swords and The Fool. She didn't know why she drew these exact cards but her ability of premonition rarely failed her and she was sure that each card represented something of what this event held or if not at the present then in the near future.

As they finally reached upon the sight, they saw a group of people surrounding the front of a school. It was afternoon so the children most likely went home so what were they around for? Observing the swarming crowd of people, both fighters swerved through the crowd to find out what was going on. As they got to the front, what they saw wasn't a crime scene or any of their thoughts from earlier.

In front of them were schoolgirls, three as a matter of fact. Judging by the way they looked, they were just ordinary girls with no special abilities or strange powers.

It wasn't the sight of the girls, it was the fact that two men in karate gis were fighting them. Ryu made sure not to underestimate anything seeing that almost anything could happen in this world, but he did feel that these girls were outmatched seeing that the two men had black belts who looked like they had a lot of experience in combat and that their opponents were girls who looked like they hadn't graduated from high school yet.

Ryu being curious asked a random bystander about what was happening, "Excuse me? What's going on?"

"Huh, you must be a newcomer to Niigata if you don't know about the Three Battling Princesses." A man responded as his eyes stayed at the action of the moment.

"Battling Princesses?" Ryu asked wondering what the man was talking about.

"Yeah, these girls can kick ass even though they do cause a lot of trouble for some of the citizens. A rambunctious and reckless bunch if you asked me." A middle-aged woman said.

"Hmm..." Ryu's and Rose's eyes focused on the occurring fight and the abilities of these three young girls. Ryu was actually intrigued by the girls fighting capabilities seeing that they could counter the black belts' efforts. It was surprising to him that the black belts couldn't land a hit on any of the girls. His eyes widened at how these girls were sparring, they fought fluidly and concise as if they trained as intensely like he and Ken did when they were younger.

"Come on, beat 'em down already!" Yelled someone from the crowd.

"Yeah, stop playing around, finish them already!" Someone else yelled.

As if they heard the crowd on cue, one girl had thrown one of them to the ground with a judo throw and the other two girls had performed a combination of kicks and punches to the other one. The two combatants were knocked out and one of the girls had desired more, so she went to one of the men and kicked him to the side making Ryu's and Rose's eyes widen at the ruthless action by one of the young women. Another one of the girls had picked the other up and repeatedly punched him in the face as he was knocked out making the crowd cheer. As a fellow martial artist, he was appalled at the girls' lack of mercy and the crowd's cheering of such barbaric behavior so he dropped his duffel bag ready to make his way to the girls.

"Come on, is there anyone else who wants a fucking beatdown?!" Yelled one of the girls asking for another opponent.

"Ryu, are you going to challenge them?" Rose asked as soon as she saw him drop his duffel bag.

"Yeah." He moved the spectators out of the way as he managed to squeeze his way out of the crowd onto the front of the school where the girls had finally finished the beating of the man's face.

"Enough! I won't let you taint the name of martial arts any further! I challenge you!" Breathing, he got into his signature fighting pose ready to take on the young women in front of him.

"Hey newcomer, you sure you want to do that? They're not gonna hold back, ya know?" One of the random spectators yelled out.

Murmurings were spread throughout the crowd wondering who this man was challenging this dangerous group of girls. They thought he was insane as some of them cheered Ryu on while some were skeptical at his coming forth.

One of the girls had come to the front ready to accept the wandering warrior's challenge. She had lustrous raven hair in one pigtail as she wore running sneakers, she was slim and of average female height and wore a pink and white yuku schoolgirl outfit. For some reason, Ryu could feel this commanding aura emanating from her. Judging by the intensity in her eyes and as she cracked her knuckles, he could tell she was ready for another fight herself.

"My name is Misora Sugiyama. State your name and school as you will be just another warrior who has succumbed to our strength." Getting into a battle pose, she breathed and let the wind surrounding her show off her tumultuous aura signifying she was ready to face off against her newest challenger.

"My name is Ryu and I represent the school of Ansatsuken." Somehow he was able to pick up this formidable Ki from her, he could feel there was more to this young woman than just a mere schoolgirl.

As his muscles tensed, he let his own energy flow throughout every path of his body. The surging energy channeled its way into his core preparing him for what could be a test to his own abilities, he could sense the same spirit as Sakura albeit a little different from the jovial and exuberant spirit she possessed; this girl had a much hardened spirit which made her more in control of her movements and her senses.

Seeing Ryu getting ready to battle, Rose could feel the girl's soul which held a very confident and cryptic aura to it. She moved quickly to the front past the bystanders until she got to Ryu's location. "Ryu, are you sure you want to fight her? She seems like she knows more than what she lets on."

"Rose, I'm sure. I've faced off against worse than this girl and to be honest, I feel like she'll offer me a challenge and for me to test my true capabilities." She figured Ryu was right, he was a man of many things and coward was not one of them. She took some steps back trusting Ryu's judgment and to let him continue on with his challenge.

The gaze of the sun's ultraviolet rays intensified their stance. The gale winds breezed past them while taking their respective stances. The energy flowed throughout their bodies as they got ready to do battle.

"No way, if you fight Misora, then you fight all of us!" One of the two girls in the back screamed out as she and the other one got to the front going into their own stances next to Misora.

The crowd muttered amongst themselves how they couldn't see Ryu winning against all three of them. They knew the girls capabilities and if they went by what they saw, then Ryu was going to have trouble. What he said though actually surprised the crowd.

"Fine by me. It wouldn't be the first time I've faced off against multiple people at once. Bring it on!" The crowd and the girls' reactions had a reaction of surprise stunned by his proclamation at the new event taking place.

"Wait." Misora told the girls. "I don't know why but I think he's a bit different from the others. Let me face off against him first then we'll see."

"Misora-san, are you sure?" One of the girls asked.

"Yeah, I'll handle it first. Fall back for now." The two girls had no reason to question her decision so they stepped back to let her proceed with her upcoming fight.

"Just to let you know, I don't plan to go easy and I suggest you don't either. It would be insulting to me as a martial artist plus I want to beat you knowing that I fought you at full strength." She went into her battle stance anticipating whatever move Ryu was going to make.

"Really? Since you said not to, I'll respect your resolve." He then began go into his battle stance ready for the girl's first move.

'Do not let your guard down, Ryu.' Rose thought.

"Ready? Fight!" The two combatants screamed out.

Misora was the first one to dash at Ryu with a frightening speed surprising Ryu and everyone else around him. Seeing that his legs were unguarded, she decided to go for a sweep which would leave him open for some time.

Luckily, Ryu was able to use his honed reflexes to jump looking down at the young woman whose leg was extended ready to take him down. He then descended back to the ground with a forming a fist for a punch so that he could graze her or get some room so he could measure her abilities. As his hand was about to come into contact with her side, Misora jumped and came down with an ax kick above him hitting him square on the back of his head, the crowd along with Rose gasped at the force of her foot. Ryu fell down to the ground, a bit rattled at what just happened.

The young woman then landed on her feet a few feet from where Ryu was laying down. She then walked over to him and clenched her hands together ready to take him out. Could he go down just like those black belts from earlier?

"I expected more from you seeing as I thought you were different. Oh well, thanks for handing me another victory." As her leg was above his head, she brought it down to kick him on his head again. As her heel was a few centimeters from knocking him out, Ryu caught her foot surprising everyone around him including Misora herself. Having a clenching grip on her foot, Ryu then began to lift himself up from the earth as he was still holding onto her foot. He then used the opportunity to judo toss her whole body but she was able to flip out of the toss to lessen the impact of the throw.

"Okay, I knew I said I wouldn't hold back but I was kind of bluffing before. Now it's time to be serious!" He got back into his pose ready to continue their battle. He knew that this girl could not be underestimated anymore. 'That kick actually stung, this kid has more potential than I thought.'

Now regaining her footing, Misora stood up surprised at what she saw. Her ax kicks had finished people off many times before so how was this man able to maintain his consciousness? 'Okay, maybe this guy isn't such a pushover after all. He actually should have been knocked out from that kick. I'm surprised that he knew I was gonna sweep him, most people wouldn't even see that coming.'

"So that wasn't enough, huh?" Misora then got back into her pose ready for another strike.

"I can see that you are more than the eye can see. I'm ready now, challenge me!" He stood fortified for whatever attack she was going to initiate.

She dashed like the first time except that she wasn't aiming for a sweep but a full on barrage of punches and kicks. She went for a chop to his neck only for Ryu to block it this time pushing her off, he then went for a straight jab with her dodging out of the way as she went for another attack. She then tried kicking him from behind to catch him off guard. He turned around quickly and stopped her leg from touching him. As a counter, he punched her in her stomach causing the breath to leave from her body. She was sent back a few yards back trying to recover from the impact to her abdomen.

"Alright, not bad. It seems that you can fight," she acknowledged his strength and went for another attempt again. Somehow, he was able to defend himself from her most relentless attacks and it actually irked her in how he was able to predict her own movements before she even executed an action. Realizing that her current attempts were for naught, she switched it up. She would let him come to her so she could find an opening.

Realizing that she stayed still, he ran to her ready to hit her until she wrapped one of his arms around her legs and brought him down to the floor, putting his arms in an armbar. If direct contact didn't work, maybe submissions would be better.

Ryu could feel his arm being squeezed; this girl surprised him as she was knowledgeable of different fighting techniques from karate to wushu to submissions. Luckily, due to the constant battling against grapplers, he knew how to counter them although she did weigh much less than the ones he normally went up against. He lifted his body while she was still clenched around his arm. Now fully standing up, he put his free arm on her back and slammed her to the ground causing her to groan out in pain. Seeing that she didn't let go, he stood up again and slammed her again causing her to finally let go. Anybody would think that it was cruel seeing a grown man slamming a young girl to the ground but this was by no means, an ordinary girl. She had fight in her and it was primarily the reason why Ryu didn't hold back.

To him, it was a form of respect to the young lady acknowledging her abilities.

After the struggle, Ryu could feel this bizarre and stinging feeling in his left arm. This girl did quite a number on him. Right now, looking at Misora on the ground, he could pin her down to prevent her from moving but looking at the feeling of his arm, he thought the best decision would be to tend to his arm before he risked her finding another way to a way to break it.

Misora could feel her body aching from the two slams and it felt like her body was being pulled down as she was getting up. Finally standing once more, she saw that Ryu was trying to get his arm together. Seeing this, she ran towards him with this ferocity that she never possessed fighting someone else before. Forming a basic karate chop, she decided that maybe he was too weakened to move any part of his body.

Ryu felt his arm gain some mobility back so he was able to sense the young woman's movements before she struck him. He blocked her chops trying to counter with his own. Her moves were very brisk and wild which made it easier to find out which direction she was coming from. That focus that she had before wasn't found in these new attacks so it became easier to target her exposed parts. As a chop went towards his ribcage, he blocked it with his fist and as his response, he performed a roundhouse kick to her side sending her back a few meters towards the school entrance.

Even though he was known as an honorable fighter, he couldn't underestimate his opponent and stood while she was on the ground trying to lessen the impact of the kick. 'That kick was...hard.' She thought while trying to clean up the blood from her mouth. Trying to figure out what was happening right now, she looked towards Ryu and saw him walking towards her direction. 'This guy is ridiculous, he survives an armbar and an ax kick and he barely looks like he has a scratch on him. Can I even do anything anymore?' She was ready for Ryu to land the finishing blow.

Now standing in front of her, he saw her breathing and even though she could endure a hit, she was still a teenage girl. He offered his hand to her, as an act of sportsmanship. "You did well, kid."

What she did not only surprised him and the crowd, but the two female accomplices behind her.

She smacked his hand away.

"I don't need your pity. I just need to defeat you and that's what I'll do!" She roared as she quickly stood up and went to hit him only to have him simply block her attempt with his hand.

She jumped trying to recover; needing time to recuperate, she decided it was best for the two girls behind her to continue on her behalf. "Tsubaki, Kanae. Take care of this guy."

The two women jumped in front of Misora taking her place, finally happy that they could get some action after just staying on the sidelines watching their friend battle with the Ansatsuken practitioner.

"So, you ready? Don't hold this against us. We just have a reputation to protect around these parts." One of the new challengers said.

"Yeah, it would sound real bad if one of the Battling Princesses were taken down by some average guy we've never really heard about." The other one said.

"Let's get him, Tsubaki!" Kanae yelled while circling around Ryu trying to confuse him with their movements.

"I had a feeling this would happen." Ryu stated while reverting back to his regular battle stance ready to take on his new opponents.

"Yeah, I got him. Can you keep up with us?" Tsubaki yelled while moving quickly making Ryu having to switch every now and then to one or the other. He felt a kick hit his back and turned around to see Tsubaki had disappeared while Kanae hit him with a palm thrust from the front making him lower his defense.

"Got him, now to finish him off! Kanae, let's go!" Tsubaki screamed to her partner. As the two got nearer to land a finishing blow, Ryu heard a malevolent and ominous voice speak in his head.

"**What are you doing boy, finish them off!**" The voice yelled into his head.

Ryu felt a surge of energy throughout his body as he could feel this new power course through him. He knew it was not wise to use this power but these girls were leaving him little of a choice.

When the two girls finally clashed with him, Ryu blocked both of their attacks and used the mass of his body to push them off. He looked at Tsubaki first who was smirking confidently ready for his attack, he rushed to her so fast that she couldn't even react at time surprised at how fast he was.

Rose could see that Ryu's whole demeanor changed and she didn't like the feeling that it gave off. "Ryu, there's something off with your character; don't let that power take over you. I know you're stronger than that."

As he was near her, his body was turned into a vortex as he screamed out, "Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!" The girl was sent back as she never saw an attack like that before and the force with it felt like he was trying to maim her or possibly, kill her.

Ryu then looked at Kanae, who was now on her guard for whatever attack he might send out at her. With the same speed he used against Tsubaki, he rushed to the young girl and raised his fist up hitting her square in her midsection, "Shoryuken!" The girl was sent flying just like her friend and she could feel her stomach going haywire like she was about to throw up.

"What the hell was that? It's like being hit by a sledgehammer!" She muttered while clutching her stomach. She looked towards Tsubaki and nodded her head.

"Time to finish this motherfucker off!" Kanae yelled towards Tsubaki. They both tried circling around Ryu again. When they finally got into position, they both went for high jumping kicks hoping it would be enough to finally finish him.

Just as they were about to finish him off, a scarf imbued with energy stopped them in their tracks. "That's enough from you young ladies. I think you know when you are outmatched." Rose was now using her soul powers to stop the fight, she felt that it went on long enough already.

Struggling to get free from the hold of the scarf, they couldn't understand how this woman was able to hold them with just a scarf.

"Hey, let us go you bitch! Matter of fact, how are you able to do this in the first place, you some kind of witch or something?" Kanae asked still trying to wriggle out of the soul energy imbued scarf.

Rose grinned at that statement, it was not the first time people were perplexed by the exhibition of her powers. "I wouldn't say witch but these are very unique powers." Even the crowd were murmuring in amazement by the glowing scarf and how it levitated.

"Whatever, can you let us down now?" Kanae asked once more.

"How do I know you won't try to attack him?" Rose had every right to be suspicious. These girls were too dangerous to leave by themselves; she had to make sure that they wouldn't try to be underhanded and execute a sneak attack on Ryu.

"Okay, we won't do anything." Tsubaki answered for both of them.

Rose was again suspicious but she asked, "Am I positive you won't harm him?"

Tsubaki sighed at her question but still answered, "We swear on our pride as martial artists, we won't do anything to him. Also, it's starting to feel really uncomfortable hanging in the air like this."

To Rose, it was a good enough answer. She calmly brought down her scarf and released the two young ladies. The both of them were exhausted from the fight and they didn't even fight as long as Misora did. Unbeknownst to them, Rose drained a little of their energy from them seeing as they were still capable of struggling during the hold.

"Who are you?" Kanae asked.

"My name is Rose. You're very powerful for girls your age. You remind me of a young girl who I met not too long ago."

They looked at her, they could tell she was not a native citizen of the country but she was somehow able to speak fluent Japanese. This women was very cryptic whenever she introduced herself. The two young women looked to see Ryu still standing, he looked a bit different than usual. Rose could sense this malicious energy being emitted from him. Was this the Satsui no Hadō that Ryu informed her about?

She went to his location only to touch him and he felt...empty. He turned around and he had this menacing look in his eyes. His presence felt heavy as he walked towards Rose staring her down.

Was he going take out his aggression on her? Could this be what the cards foretold her? Rose knew that Ryu wouldn't allow himself to be easily taken over like that but she did make sure that she was prepared to retaliate if he did decide to fight her. As he got closer to her, Rose armed herself with her scarf and fearing for the worst. When he finally got closer to her, the aura around him was dissipating. Now in front of her, he looked to her and to her surprise, his eyes reverted back to his original brown ones.

Rose sighed thankful that he was in control of himself once again. She could feel herself calming down as she put her scarf back to its original position. She pulled Ryu's body up seeing that he was a bit fatigued and did have a few bruises on his body.

"Ryu, are you okay?"

He questioned it, was he okay? He couldn't remember what happened in the past few minutes but he was sure that it was the power inside him that made him feel like that. Taking in the present at the moment right now, he looked around to see the spectators, the girls and Rose in front of him.

"My head's a bit hazy. Rose, what happened?" He asked still trying to piece whatever he possibly could.

"That power inside you almost made you become a different person. Are you okay now?"

"Now I'm fine," he then remembered that he was fighting those two girls. Looking around, he saw them near Misora helping her up. He saw their bruises which were definitely caused by him. He felt bad that he succumbed so easily to the tempting power inside him and that...voice. He knew that voice from anywhere from his multiple encounters with him.

'I will not let you win, Demon. I will prevail against all the obstacles before me, including you.' He thought to himself.

Out of concern, he went to the girls making the crowd wonder what he was doing. Was he going to fight them again? Or even finish them off?

When he got to the girls, he smiled and helped the girls pick up Misora seeing that out of the three, she was the one who was the most tired. They wondered who this guy was and why he was helping them. Both Tsubaki and Kanae realized that Misora was right about this man; he was different from all their previous challengers. If it was someone else, they most likely would've bragged about their victory over the Battling Princesses.

"Why are you helping us? We almost tried to demolish the crap out of you." Tsubaki stated.

"It's my fault you two are in the state that you are in now and I apologize for that. I figured it's best to offer my help to prominent young people like yourselves so that you can achieve your full potential."

Ryu could see that these young girls reminded him of Sakura and the first time that she asked him to train her. They possessed the same tenacity, ambition and strength which added to their skills would take them very far in life if they were persistent enough to keep going.

Kanae made sure Misora was taken care of before she responded to him, "Whatever makes you sleep at night. Also, you're not bad; much better than the other jerkoffs we've went up against."

"You're not bad yourself nor are you two. Keep training and I'm sure one day, you'll create a reputation for yourselves." He held his hand out hoping that they could reach some sort of agreement. "How about we call this a draw?"

"Really?" Tsubaki asked surprised at his question. Did the match not really mean that much to him? It was a good idea and maybe they could still protect their undefeated reputation.

"No, we lost fair and square." Misora rose her head to look Ryu in the face and stood up out of the care of the two teenagers beside her. "We lost and that's that, even if I want to deny it, it's the truth, no matter what. I never really met someone like you but it's a loss."

Ryu smiled at the girl. Even if the girl was a vicious fighter as she displayed earlier, she still had some humility left inside her. He held his hand out to her to signify that it was a pleasing fight for both of them. "Good fight?"

At first she thought about it and that if it was her in the past, she'd smack their hand away without a second glance but Ryu had a different spirit to him. He had this look of strength, confidence and persistence which she admired in people.

"Yeah, good fight." She shook his hand and also bowed her head in regards to her defeat. Tsubaki and Kanae also went to shake his hand and bowed just like Misora.

Seeing that she still felt weak, Misora almost fell and luckily had Tsubaki catch one side of her body. Kanae came quickly and held her other side to make sure that she was okay.

'Wow, that fight really took it out of me.' Misora could feel her body giving out to the fatigue. She never fought somebody to this extent before and even though it was a first she felt this tired, she was actually very content with herself that she could fight with somebody at that level.

The three girls then decided to walk back to their homes, even though they did cause their own sort of chaos in the neighborhood, they were still seniors and they made sure not to mess up their chances of graduation. As they walked, they stopped for a second for Misora to look back at Ryu and Rose.

"Next time when I run into you, I'll be sure that I win next time. Also to the pretty foreign onee-san, take care of your boyfriend until the next time I run into him." Misora smirked when she said that and continued walking down the road.

Rose blushed a color similar to the blouse that she was wearing when she heard that. Did she really think of her and Ryu as a couple? Did the spectators think of them like that when they first saw them? She shook her heads at those thoughts and just looked at it as a misunderstanding from their part.

When the three girls were gone from sight, the crowd behind them let out a big cheer at the first loss of the Battling Princesses of Niigata. They had gathered around the two amazed that they were the first ones to hand the girls their first loss. They were being bombarded by questions coming from different directions, they found it a bit overwhelming to be honest; Rose was especially asked if she was a magician or performer of some sort, they thought it was common seeing that many westerners were entertainers for the public. As Ryu said, he never did this for monetary value, recognition or such materialism.

Once the townspeople had finished celebrating, they gave both Rose and Ryu many things of value. Ryu being the person who he was declined them countless times but they insisted that he and Rose take their offerings as a show of thanks for finally being the ones to bring some tranquility back to the town of Niigata. The spectators slowly dispersed while some of them stayed to talk to Rose and Ryu for a bit.

One of the spectators went up to Ryu and patted Ryu on the shoulder for a job well done. "Well youngsters, it seems that you've done a great thing for Niigata. I don't know how we could let this go for so long without anyone calling the police or any of the authorities."

"As I said, it was no problem at all. I'm actually glad I had the chance to face them, they put up a great fight." replied Ryu.

"Well, even though those girls had to fall to someone one day. We just never expected it to be today or even anytime soon. By the way, the name's Takahiro Oba but just call me Takahiro." He introduced himself while holding his hand out towards Ryu.

Takahiro was a man that looked like he ranged from his mid-40s to early-50s. The man had a pepper-and-salt coloring in his hair which reflected not only his age and experience, a smooth ponytail reaching down to the base of his neck. He stood a bit taller than Ryu and Rose, his body was built like a natural laborer and judging by the muscles he had, he had encountered a few fights back in his younger days. His face was broad with shoulders and even if he was and older man, he could deceive some people and shed some years off which would be believable. The grin on his face exuded confidence and respect which he gave to Ryu after his show of skills today.

"My name is Ryu and this is my companion, Rose," he shook Takahiro's hand and introduced Rose. Rose shook the man's hand happy that she could meet someone new from this experience. "Nice to meet you, Takahiro-san." Rose said with a smile.

Takahiro looked at Rose and was amazed at how beautiful and stunning she was. Did all foreign woman look like her? He knew that Japan had many women others would deem exotic but her level of beauty to him was bar-none. "Wow, you're one of the most beautiful women I've ever come across. It's a pleasure to meet you." He blushed while looking at her, how could a woman he had never met in his life make him feel like a teenage child again? He would never know.

Rose smiled at that statement, it was the second time that somebody made a reference to her looks again, and she was flattered by it. "Thank you, Takahiro-san."

When he heard Rose speak fluent Japanese, he was taken aback by how articulate and well-spoken she was. Getting his composure together, he stood up straight and complimented her on her Japanese pronunciation. "You can speak Japanese very well for a foreigner. Ryu-san, this girl might be a keeper if I've ever seen one."

"Thank you. I try my best to study about cultures and its people." Rose stated.

Ryu laughed at the man's words. "Well, I think she's a very knowledgeable person and I wouldn't go so far to say that."

"Regardless, keep her around. You never know what might happen." Takahiro lightly elbowed Ryu on the chest. "Anyways, enough about that. Where are you two going? I know that you're not natives of Niigata so where do you plan to stay for the night?"

"Well, we were hoping you could inform us of a hotel where we could reside tonight. We're not really familiar with this part of Japan." Ryu chuckled a bit.

The middle-aged man looked at them flabbergasted by what he said. The two fighters looked at Takahiro in confusion wondering why his face looked like that. It was like he was offended by what Ryu said.

"What?! Nonsense, there's no way I'll let you sleep at a hotel tonight. Especially not some of the dingy ones around here. Follow me, you can sleep at my place tonight." It was more of a command than a request judging by his intonation.

"Are you sure? We wouldn't want to impose on you, Takahiro-san." Rose stated.

He let out a hearty laugh at what she said. "Of course you wouldn't be imposing, it's the least I can do for what you did for us regular folks today. Now then, I suggest we get a move on, it's starting to get dark."

Looking up into the sky, Rose and Ryu realized Takahiro was right. They saw the blue sky fused with the orange luminescence which indicated the transition of afternoon into evening. Who knew time would have gone by that quickly. The crowd of citizens had dissipated long ago and the only ones left near the school were the three of them.

After analyzing his own body, the most Ryu could say was that he was left with a cut near his mouth from the ax kick. He was used to bruises so he could shrug that off as he went to pick up his duffel bag as he and Rose prepared to follow Takahiro to his home.

"Alright. We're ready to go now and thank you for your generosity, Takahiro-san." He and Rose bowed to the man as a show of his gratitude. Respect was the one thing that Ryu always had and his master emphasized during his earlier years training.

"No need to bow and I said it before, it's okay. Sometimes the little acts of kindness make this world a bit better to live in." The group began walking and as they crossed their town, multiple cheers were heard from various people. They gave compliments to Ryu for being the first victor against the Battling Princesses.

After about 30 minutes of walking, they finally stopped in front of the place perceived as Takahiro's home. "Well, this is my home! Don't be shy, come in." The two fighters stepped in and what they saw drew a lot of confusion to them. What they saw wasn't a home but it was restaurant, a ramen restaurant judging by all the postings of noodle-based dishes around the restaurant.

The size of the restaurant was very spacious, there was a moderately sized pathway between the stools and some tables, which surprising to them still had many customers there enjoying their own food. The interior had a decoration of green and yellow all over the place: the walls, floor and even the seats all had some shade of yellow or green to accommodate the place. They looked at the wall and it had a few cracks which indicated that it was an old place but it was very hygienic judging by the polished floors and clean dishes being served at the moment. They looked at one of the walls and spotted several photos and miscellaneous items adding to their perceived fact that this was a very old place but it still possessed its livelihood even during this time. Rose got closer and examined the pictures, she was surprised by what she saw. Takahiro had pictures of celebrities, local politicians, he had many recognized people on the wall which indicated that this restaurant was pretty well-known outside of Niigata.

Takahiro saw the way Rose looked at the wall's pictures and he smiled smugly in fact knowing that he had gotten another person entranced by his extraordinary wall.

"I see that you know some of these people, huh?" Takahiro said to Rose as he walked to her position. "I take pride in this restaurant and all that it's seen over the years."

"I can see that. You have a very distinct feeling about your restaurant. What it is, that I don't have the answer to. Your restaurant is very delightful, Takahiro-san." Rose then looked at the wall once more with her eyes going up to something that looked like a quote. It was written in Japanese language as she could tell; seeing that she studied the Japanese in its entirety, including the phonetics and kanji, she read the quote out loud:

"If you do not enter the tiger's cave, you will not catch its cub."

"Yeah, it's a quote I live by. I've had it here ever since I opened the restaurant over 20 years ago. I went through a lot to realize what I was going to do in life, a good amount of trial-and-errors if I say so myself." Rose looked at Takahiro and she could see the smile on his face as he said those words. It reminded her of the time in the forest with Ryu, the message sounded very similar which made her think about her position. She had to risk her life and existence if she was ever going to live her own life without the shadow of Bison looming over her. It plagued her whenever she thought about him and the hold he had on her. Her thoughts were interrupted when Ryu put his hand on her shoulder releasing her from her thoughts.

"Rose, you've been looking at the wall for a while. Are you alright?"

Not wanting to worry him, she answered, "I'm alright Ryu. Just looking at all these pictures here."

He decided to take her word even though deep down he knew something was on her mind, he then turned to Takahiro. "Um, Takahiro-san, I thought we were on the way to your home? Why are we in a restaurant?"

He then smacked his hand at his stupidity, maybe his years were getting to him. "Damn it, you're right! I forgot to tell you, this is my restaurant _and_ my home! That's my mistake. Welcome to Hokuro Ramen Restaurant! Hahaha!"

"Wow? This is really your home?!" Ryu was perplexed at how such a restaurant was also a place of residence at the same time.

"Yup, this place is my baby but don't let my wife hear that, she'll skin me alive and leave the bones for the dogs."

Rose laughed at his joke but made assured him that his secret was safe. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with us. Where is your wife anyway, Takahiro-san? It would be nice to meet her if possible."

"Right now, she's not even here. She's in Fukuoka gathering some ingredients and trying to negotiate for cheaper prices. Economy's taken a hit over the years so we have to be careful with spending. My kids are also down in the city doing university so it's pretty much me and my wife now. So Ryu, what do you think of this wall? Pretty impressive, huh?" Takahiro asked the normally gi-wearing man.

He looked at the wall before responding, "I'm sorry Takahiro-san but I don't really know anybody on this wall."

The restaurant owner eyes widened out when he heard Ryu say that. "Wait, what do you mean? You don't know Keiko Kitagawa or Yū Aoi? Don't you watch TV or go to the movies or something?"

"Not really, I do watch TV but normally at my friend's house when I visit him. He's kind of a big deal where he lives. I do know some of the corrupt politicians up here though." Ryu responded with.

That caught Takahiro's ear a bit, "big deal'? He asked Ryu to elaborate. "Ryu-san, who's your friend?"

"Oh, his name is Ken, Ken Masters." Ryu answered his question looking at the while himself.

"Ken Masters, the champion in the western world?" He then turned Ryu and held him by his shoulders. "Ryu-san, if you can, please get him to come here so he can take a picture, please."

Ryu smiled at his request, "Sure, Takahiro-san. I'll be sure to tell him the next time to come here the next time he visits Japan."

"Thank you Ryu-san, it's nice to see that there are still some good-natured people in the world." He then walked towards the kitchen and yelled to his staff, "Hey guys, two ramen bowls on the house for my two guests!"

When he said this, both Ryu and Rose had to intervene, it was nice that he let them stay in his house but to have food for free when they were capable of paying for it was a bit too much for them.

"Takahiro-san, we have money. Just you letting us stay here for the night is enough." Rose told Takahiro.

"I have to agree with Rose, Takahiro-san." Ryu then stated.

"Ha! Trust me, two free bowls won't kill me and you impressed me today with how you fought those girls. Don't worry about it, it's on me." Takahiro smiled once more showing how much he was really impressed by their abilities today. "Anyways, I should take you upstairs to your room before you start eating. Time should go by quickly when you're putting your stuff away. Follow me."

They followed him upstairs to a place that was a completely different area from the restaurant on the bottom. It was a normal furnished home which looked like a decent place to raise a family. He led them to a guest room which he had to admit, he didn't really use often. Maybe his two guests would be able to utilize them more than he did. It was a medium-sized room with a closet and a queen-sized bed next to the window.

"Well, here's the guest room. We can leave your stuff here while you guys eat. I'm sure by now, you must be hungry especially after you told me how you guys got here. Hitchhiking, huh? That must be fun, traveling all over enjoying new experiences and meeting new people. I wish I could do that but I'm kind of old."

"Do not let your age determine that Takahiro-san. If you will it, then it will eventually come true. Let fate decide your outcome." Rose spoke up.

"I guess you're right Rose-san. I feel like my wife would complain if I left the restaurant to her and my kids would never let me live it down. Be right back," he left the room and came back with some fresh sheets and pillows ready to prepare the bed for his guests. He laid them down on the bed for them to decide on what to do with them. "Well, I think preparing the sheets can wait after you've eaten. Come on, let's go." Takahiro gestured with his hand for them to follow him. Ryu put down his duffel bag and seeing that Rose didn't have much on her person, she only put away her wallet and the tarot cards that she normally traveled with. They went to the bathroom and cleaned themselves seeing that they had just came from outside, they then went back downstairs."

Back downstairs, they found that their bowls were ready and it was quite a sight. The ramen was soaked in a chicken-based broth surrounded by slices of chicken, vegetables, an egg, and numerous other ingredients which added to the already marvelous bowl of food laid before them.

The food looked so well-prepared and exquisite that they were so entranced by how delectable the food looked. "Well then, don't just stare at the food! Come on, dig in!" Takahiro said to them with a smile on his face. Not wanting to prolong their hunger any longer, they each took a pair of chopsticks and said the custom phrase before eating:

"Itadakimasu!"

They both ate their food thankful that they were able to have a meal seeing as they were able to finally eat something not from a vendor but actually prepared. The food was really nice and it made them feel a whole lot better, especially after the madness of the tournament that took quite a toll on them. After finally eating, they bowed to Takahiro for his generosity once more.

"Thank you for the meal, Takahiro-san. It was very pleasant." Rose said.

"Yes, and it was able to stick to my diet plan which I really needed after not really eating the best of food for some time." Ryu followed after expressing his thanks.

"Not a problem, I'm glad to have made you this food. Don't forget to tell others once you leave Niigata about this place." Takahiro responded to them.

As much as they wanted to rest, there were some things that they wondered about; in particular, those girls and why they were so powerful to begin with. The damage though minor done to Ryu made them question about who else was strong out there. Maybe Takahiro could shed some light on the situation.

"Takahiro-san? These Battling Princesses, who are they?" Ryu asked. As a fighter, he wanted to know more about these girls and see if there was more like them in other parts of not only Japan, but the rest of the world.

"Hmm, it shouldn't surprise me that you would ask who they are and try to find out who they are. Well, it started two years ago when word was that these black belts in a school karate club were easily beaten by a group of people who also attended the same school. Come to find out, it's a group of girls who pretty much decimated them with hardly no problem."

"So how did they get their name here in Niigata?" Rose wondered.

"Well, it all started one say when other schools started hearing of these girls and their clubs wanted to challenge them to see if they could back up their skills by fighting them. Believe me, so many schools came from around the region that it eventually became crazy talk to not hear of these three girls. When they fought their opponents, they came with an intensity of the sun and pretty much destroyed all their competition if you can even call some of these guys competition in the first place. Hence the name, The Battling Sunfire Princesses."

They were surprised by how these young girls had already created a reputation for themselves and their names were known to people outside of regional area. Ryu knew the world of martial arts was vast and that there would always be someone out there with skills beyond comprehension. It was things like that which drove him to be better and find himself. Those girls he fought today only reminded him of that whenever he traveled over the globe looking for more opponents.

"If they're fighting only clubs, then why did they fight those men today?" Rose wondered about the sight she saw today. Those men had been brutally beat up without a care in the world and it surprised her by how young they were to do something like that.

"Well, some kids from those clubs had connections to some other guys and many people came over trying to challenge them, it was ridiculous and useless. These girls kept taking them down one after another after another and they just became undefeatable to everyone who stepped up to them. Next thing you know, thugs, grown men. Hell, even some Yakuza who were experts came and challenged them only to get tossed by them. It was like these girls were demons or something which made everyone around here fear them, nobody stood up to them and people didn't really try to defend their stuff. They got stuff for free from all the local shops and whatever. Eventually, it became a normal thing to just see them fight. Surprising part was, they never really beat up any of the citizens around here, mainly their opponents. Even helped some old folks one time in beating the living crap out of some thief that robbed them one time. They're kind of hot and cold judging from what I've seen."

"So they're not entirely troublemakers, are they?" Rose inquired. Judging by what she heard, it seems that they had some kindness inside their hearts.

"Troublemakers, who knows? All I know is that I didn't want any trouble with them so me and my wife kept to ourselves but that didn't mean we wouldn't have done anything, it's all so crazy how just three young girls makes people behave differently. I know those girls could be much better but that doesn't matter because they have their first loss thanks to you, Ryu-san. The people of Niigata and I are thankful to you."

"Well, I do appreciate the praise but I don't do it mainly for wins. I do it because I enjoy facing new people and taking on whatever they have to offer. Prizes and materials don't really mean much to me because it turns people into things that I don't like seeing." Ryu's words surprised Takahiro. It wasn't often that he encountered someone like this on a daily basis. If only more people had his mindset is what he thought.

"You know, I don't really encounter people like you every day Ryu-san. It feels a bit refreshing if I do say so myself to meet people like you and Rose-san." Takahiro said this as he was cleaning a glass cup, he realized it was pretty late and announced that he was closing for the night much to the patrons' chagrin, "It's pretty late if I do say so myself, I know you guys have to be on the way tomorrow so I'm sure you're tired."

"Actually, Takahiro-san, we were wondering if you could tell us about yourself and your restaurant. I'm sure there's some story on why your restaurant is revered through Japan." Rose asked due mainly to the wall of pictures with famous people; she wondered how he was able to meet so many people.

"Really? Well, I don't wanna toot my own horn." Takahiro modestly spoke not trying to bore his guests with his own life story.

"Please, Takahiro-san. Besides, isn't life meant to meet new people and create connections with them?" Ryu asked also trying to hear about the success of his restaurant.

"Huh, seeing that you asked, why not? Well, I started in the early 90's when I got out of college. I graduated from Keio University with a bachelors in Business Management, didn't get a job for half a year so I stayed at my family's home while holding little jobs just trying to make sure I was useful in some way. My parents wanted me to do graduate school seeing that education was the best thing I could do to become a contributing member to society. After some time, I got a job as a salary man, nothing too special, basic 9-5 and I eventually got my own apartment. As I worked, I realized one thing: I wasn't happy with myself. I worked and I made money but it didn't satisfy me, I made my parents proud with my accomplishments but it would always come back to me and what I wanted to do with my life," he turned to the quote that Rose had seen earlier and pointed to it making both Ryu and Rose turn towards his finger's direction, "you see that quote up there? It help changed my life for the better."

"How exactly?" Ryu questioned.

"During my job, I was tired of waking up and just going to work day after day after day, it got so goddamn repetitive doing the same crap every day but I wasn't satisfied. I remembered that I brought homemade noodles to work almost every day, brought some for some of my coworkers. I was like the noodle man at work and that's what people knew me as. Next thing you know, I'm having people pay me to bring noodles to work for them. I did some research on opening a cart and it took a while but I eventually found something that made me happy. I quit my job and worked in some restaurants for a while learning about the restaurant industry. Mind you, my parents weren't really happy with my decision but they supported me nonetheless. Some years later, I had the capital to open up a restaurant and I based it on noodles so it became the ramen restaurant you're sitting in now. It started slow at first but it came up eventually. Next thing you know, I met my wife who was a customer here and two kids later, I'm right here."

"That was an interesting story, Takahiro-san. How did you meet all these people on this wall?" Rose asked seeing that she watched a lot of Japanese media back in Italy and knew a good amount of people posted up there.

"One day, I see this guy surrounded by bodyguards. I go up to him all nervous and whatnot, just to find out this guy is the Minister of Education. He ordered something simple and I just gave it to him; mind you, I'm nervous about what he thinks of my food but surprising to me, he really likes it. Next thing you know, celebrities and other people who normally wouldn't be around these parts are coming here in secret or just have someone to protect them in case they get swarmed for pictures and whatever. Hence the pictures of all the people I've met. So what about you two?" Takahiro asked seeing as he told them about his restaurant.

"We're currently traveling the world at the moment." Ryu answered for both of them.

"Really?"

"Yes, we actually started a few days ago seeing that we met up at a tournament one time." Rose stated.

"Tournament, I guess you guys are some pretty powerful folks, huh? So how is it traveling so far?"

"It's interesting, you meet new people and experience something new every day. It brings out the good side of humanity instead, people like you Takahiro-san." Rose said.

Takahiro laughed at that, it wasn't every day you got complimented by a beautiful foreign woman every day. "Why thanks, but I just do it because it's in my nature. I'm sure you two are tired right now. Why don't you get some sleep? I'll take care of everything down here."

"Are you sure, Takahiro-san? I mean you've done a lot for us today, the least we can do is help you clean up." Ryu and Rose wanted to repay Takahiro for providing them with food and shelter for the night.

"Really?" He asked and they both nodded as a response.

"Well, you can help straighten up and sweep up for me. I don't really need health inspectors here, they're ruthless when it comes to hygiene in restaurants." He joked. "Ah, Rose-san, where are you from exactly?" Takahiro asked. He had to know where in the world a stunning woman like her came from.

"Genoa, Italy. It's a beautiful place, you should visit one day." She answered.

"If I ever get the chance for a vacation, I'll add it to my list of places to go to." He said.

Proud to help him for his kindness, they began helping him tidy up the restaurant by cleaning up anything they possibly could. To them, it felt nice to use their hands that didn't involve striking someone or forming energy in their hands. As they finally finished, they bid Takahiro good night as they went to the guest room.

Seeing that they were a bit dirty from the evens of today, they decided it was best to take shower first. Ryu being a gentleman decided to let Rose take a shower first. As she entered the bathroom, many thoughts went through his head, especially during that fight today. Why was that voice speaking in his head? Another thing was why did he let his restraint on the Satsui no Hadō slip, especially on young girls like that? That desire to win was a double-edged sword, his match years back with Sagat was proof of that. He saw the Demon talking to him, he knew that they would encounter once more in the future. He didn't need the plague of Akuma clouding his better judgment. There were so many questions he had, but he had no way to approach them. As his and Rose's journey continued, he hoped that there would be some answers to the many questions he had.

"Ryu, you can take a shower now." Ryu was knocked out of his trance as he stared upon Rose who had just got out of the bathroom. She was wearing a lavender nightgown that she materialized using her soul powers.

"Y-yeah, sorry about that. Just thinking about some things. I'll be sure to finish quickly." Ryu moved to the bathroom only to have Rose stop him by gently holding his shoulder.

"Ryu, if there is something wrong, talk to me. Confide in me as I have confided in you such as that time in the forest. We are all human and we all have problems that we feel are too much for us to burden, we need people to help us in our darkest and bleakest moments. Remember that." Rose knew that Ryu was struggling with that darkness within him. She wouldn't ask of him to speak of it now but whenever he was ready.

"Yeah, Rose. I'll be sure to do that." Ryu spoke softly. As he entered the shower, he let the drops of water cleanse away not only the grime on his body but the aura of destruction that clouded his thinking. He remembered Rose's presence when he was being controlled by his desire; she was going to clash with him if need be to make sure that he didn't fatally injure the girls or any of the innocent people around him, Shadaloo and S.I.N. had done enough of that already. It was a gesture he really appreciated and she did say he didn't have to speak about it unless he was comfortable enough to do so.

Done with his shower, Ryu changed into his clothes. He entered the bedroom only to discover Rose was asleep. He did have some thoughts seeing as they were a man and woman sleeping in a bed together. He slid himself into the bed while looking at Rose's sleeping face; he had to admit that she was very beautiful, her looks were the farthest thing from his thoughts at the moment though.

His mind went back to earlier, he remembered the loss of reasoning, control, and sanity from the fight. He couldn't go to sleep seeing that the darkness had found a way to pierce through his mental shell once more, this time it had taken over him without a warning though. It frustrated him, how could he have allowed that power to take over him again? During his recollection trying to piece up everything that happened, he saw Rose standing next to him which made him remember what happened. Everything was starting to come back to him now, he remembered Rose trying to prevent him from causing unnecessary bloodshed and to protect the innocent spectators, Takahiro included from getting hurt. She was actually willing to go against him even though she knew she was risking her life. He knew that her powers were still on the path of recovery so to him; her actions impressed him and made him think of how powerful of a person the fortuneteller really was.

Eventually finding out he couldn't sleep, Ryu went out to do the one thing that normally calmed the tensions of his mind: meditate. If slumber didn't help, then finding a peace of mind surely would, he took a look at Rose before getting off the bed and sitting down next to the bed and closed his eyes. He decided that this would occupy him until daybreak. Maybe everything would make sense to him in the morning as he closed his eyes and melded his mind, body and soul.

The morning had come by rather abruptly. The chirps of wagtails and swallows had disrupted the silence of the morning semblance. The radiating rays shone through the windowpane thanks to its transparent appearance. Rustling in the sheets, Rose had come to rising up with a yawn and thankful for a peaceful sleep, something that she was normally trying to get used to again. Her lithe body stretched out feeling the crick in her joints dissipate as she was still recovering from usage of her powers. She still felt groggy even after waking up but she was still mobile and aware of her surroundings. The last thing she remembered before going to sleep was Ryu taking a shower last night. She then realized that she and Ryu was to share a bed last night thanks to their new friend. She turned to the side of where Ryu was only to find out that he wasn't there, she looked from the bed and what she saw stunned her: Ryu was currently sitting in a full lotus position, could he have really meditated for all of last night? This actually surprised her because she had expected Ryu to share the same bed. Realizing that it was morning, Rose stepped out the bed with disheveled hair heading to the bathroom to prepare herself to get ready.

She had to stop at where Ryu was still in a meditation pose trying to find out what happened. "Ryu, are you awake right now?" She asked, not receiving an answer, she figured he must have went to sleep at some point during the night. She figured not to disturb him as he needed rest as much as she did.

"Yes, Rose. I'm awake." Ryu responded making her stop in her tracks and causing her to let out a gasp at how he was able to answer her.

Finally recovering from her shock, she went back to him to find out what happened, "Ryu, have you really been awake all night?" She asked him.

"Yes, and Rose?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you for stopping me yesterday. I should not have allowed myself to fall victim to the Satsui no Hadō like that, I put many people's lives in danger and I thank you for protecting them before anything destructive happened." He had a smile on his face as he said that.

Rose had a small smile on her face and nodded, "Of course, I'm glad you were able to confide in me, but seriously Ryu, you should get some rest, remember you do still have injuries from the fight yesterday." She assured him. Even though she knew of his extensive and intense training, he was still as much a human being as anyone else was.

"I know Rose and I will, I may not have gotten rest last night but I'm sure I know the capabilities and limitations of my body. Rest assured, I'll be okay." He told her.

She worried for his health but he had proven people wrong before, she could only trust his word for now. "I trust you but tonight please rest, you need it much more than I do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be getting ready for us to leave." She went into the bathroom leaving Ryu to get himself ready to leave also.

Ryu looked at the hypnotism that the sun's rising did to him, he opened the window to get a better look at it. He loved the smear of colors that painted the sky every time a new day began, no matter how many times he saw it, the tantalizing site of the beginning of a new day never ceased to maze him. The air gave off this invigorant and stimulating feeling he couldn't put into words. It was the reason why he liked secluding himself in the sorest instead of being in the city in contrast to his blonde-haired friend.

The morning was still early so he went downstairs to check the restaurant. He saw Takahiro cleaning and reading a newspaper at the same time. "Good morning, Takahiro-san!" Ryu greeted the man.

Takahiro turned around to see Ryu near the entrance to the stairs. "Ah, well good morning to you as well, Ryu-san. I'm sure you and Rose-san had a good night's sleep, I presume?"

"Well, I didn't exactly go to sleep last night." Ryu said in a nervous tone.

"Really? You young people have more stamina than I thought. Anyways, what's up? How's Rose-san, still sleeping?"

"No, she's actually getting ready to be on the way right now. Takahiro-san, I have a lot of things on my mind right now and I have no idea how to confront them," he then looked up to Takahiro. "What would you suggest in making peace with yourself?"

He was baffled by Ryu's question but did answer him. "Well, I would figure out what the problem is and how it's affecting my life and the people around me. Attacking it head on first would seem like the best thing to do but that just might make it worse. Learn to control whatever's making your mind uneasy and everything else will follow. Try not to think about it too much, Ryu-san; it might drive you crazy or make you do things you wouldn't normally do."

"Thank you, Takahiro-san." He expected much from a man who had a lot of experience with life. The man nodded happy that he could give someone young some life advice.

Rose then eventually came down the stairs dressed in her usual clothes, she looked at Ryu and Takahiro at the table. "Good morning, Takahiro-san and to you as well, Ryu." She greeted the two men.

"Morning, Rose-san! I'm sure you want some breakfast before you get on the road. Where do you plan to go afterwards?"

Now that they thought about it, they really didn't have an idea on where exactly they were going next. Their traveling was more spontaneous at the moment so it did leave them wondering what their next destination would be.

"We don't know yet, Takahiro-san. We go wherever life has destined for us to go." Rose said with her mystic persona.

"So it's just you going wherever you're going, huh? That sounds exciting. Well, I have some breakfast for you for your trip. Be right back." He then brought out two trays consisting of different plates of food from his kitchen and placed it on top of the table ready for them to eat; it consisted of some Tamagoyaki (rolled omelette), steamed rice, miso soup and dried mackerel. It was the best he could do seeing that he had met two very kind people.

"Eat up and please enjoy the food." He bowed to them as he said this.

They bowed in respect to him as they enjoyed the food prepared for them. The quiet ambience of the restaurant also contributed in helping them enjoy the food seeing as they were eating before open hours. Done with their food, they went back to the guest room and got their belongings. Going outside and looking at the streets with people opening their stores, they observed the difference from when they first entered Niigata yesterday.

Takahiro stood outside. He was actually a bit disheartened that Rose and Ryu were leaving but they had their own lives to tend to and he understood that.

"Ryu-san, Rose-san. I thank you for giving me the chance for me to meet you. Good luck on your journey and I hope you come back to Niigata one day. Too bad my wife couldn't meet you, maybe another day."

"One day we'll be back, Takahiro-san. Thank you for your generous hospitality." Ryu put his hand on his shoulder solidifying the respect between the two men.

"Yes, thank you, Takahiro-san." Rose shook his head and hugged him which he gladly returned.

"Oh yeah, hold on before you leave. I have something for you," he went into the restaurant for a few minutes and returned with a few bags. "Some food for your trip. Save you some money, you know."

"Thank you, Takahiro-san." Ryu took the food and put it in his duffel bag.

"I think it's time we be on our way. Wouldn't you say, Ryu?" Rose inquired trying to get an early start on their journey.

"Yes, until next time my friend." Ryu and Rose bid the man goodbye as he waved back.

"Oh yes, Ryu-san! I still would like that picture if you can ever get it!" Takahiro yelled.

"I'll be sure to do so, goodbye Takahiro-san!" He said back.

It was still fairly early in the morning so the two had many hours to themselves before they decided where to go next. That question about where to go to next repeated itself in their heads.

Where exactly would they go next?

Ryu then knew of where to go, he asked one of the locals about a place where they sold travel tickets. Thankful for the assistance, he went to the place the local had directed him to, he knew exactly where to go. He bought two tickets for China by boat. Unfortunately, the boat was in Osaka and wasn't due to leave for another week. So until then, the two fighters had to find a way for time to go by before their trip was ready to leave.

They found themselves still in Niigata so the best way for them was to see what the town was like. The experience was something that they found quite amusing and interesting. Seeing that it was Rose's first time ever visiting Japan, she was entranced by the cultural atmosphere.

Night had come rather quickly, Rose thanked Ryu for showing her Niigata even though he had never been there before. Even though they could have returned to Takahiro's for the remaining time, they decided to seclude themselves in a forest not too far from a shrine they visited in the day.

The marvel of nature seduced them and so they decided to stay in a cave they came upon. Rose was never one to make a deal out of places like that; she was prepared to see how Ryu lived his life and if it meant residing in a cave, then she would do the same. Tired, she went to sleep and advised Ryu to do the same seeing that he didn't sleep the night before. Maybe for the week, something interesting would happen again.

It would seem fate would play its role once more as three familiar pairs of eyes gazed upon them from the bushes.

* * *

Feather Drop: Chapter length  
As you can see, this is a fairly long chapter while reading. I was actually looking up things regarding this topic and I ran across some good pages informing me of what people perceive as too much and how people can be content at the same time. It made me think and I don't want to bore any readers with chapters being too long so it makes me think of how I can write information without going too into detail. Then again, some writers and readers say it depends on the writer and what they're trying to convey to the reader no matter how long it is and as long as it has a beginning, middle and end, there shouldn't be anything to worry about. But for future reference, I'll try to make it shorter for you guys next time and for future stories.

Also for the tarot cards, seeing as Rose is a fortuneteller, they'll make an appearance every now and then. The only challenge is that there's so many cards and it's hard to choose which one goes right with the chapter. I'll also explain the meaning for each tarot card used starting with this one.

**The Seven of Wands**: This card represents challenges, competition and perseverance through obstacles standing upright so it's pretty much a card for obstacles and defeating them; standing reverse, it represents taking on many responsibilities and challenges which weighs down on you and low self-esteem (kind of the right card to describe Rose in the first chapter)

**The Ace of Swords**: This card is basically for anyone in real life who's succeeded: represents power, victories and mental stability standing upright; standing reverse stands for confusion, disorder and lack of clarity

**The Fool**: Should be used in the first chapter but it does have some prominence here as Ryu begins his new journey with Rose and meeting Takahiro. This card represents beginnings, free-spirited and spontaneity; standing reverse represents foolishness, being reckless and taking risks

I hope you have a good read and please be sure to leave a review as it will surely help me on what to do next. Peace out for now!


	3. The Leaves' Edges

Wow, I can't believe it took me this long just to finish this chapter and it's pretty long too if I might add. A lot of things have been happening in my part of the woods and seeing as school is still keeping me busy while I prepare for graduation next year, it's taken some time for me to update this story so I apologize for that. This chapter is long but I promise the next one will be shorter and future ones also.

"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest."-Confucius

* * *

**Chapter 3**

The light of the new day had awoken Ryu with its presence. It wasn't a surprise seeing that his body was accustomed to waking up at rather early times for him to begin his daily training. He saw Rose still resting against the cave wall while she had a complacent smile on her face. He smiled seeing that the traveling had uplifted her mood from her rather melancholy state some nights back.

Looking at the cloudy skies, the weather was going to be less pleasant than yesterday. It still possessed the same humidity from the other days but rain could be a problem. Ryu never really let things like weather or harsh conditions impede him, he changed into his gi and looked at it as a way to strengthen not only his body but his spirit along with it.

As he trained, he thought about the voice that came into his head two days back. As much as he despised it, he knew that Akuma's presence was always going to follow him until he confronted the man-turned-demon himself. Trying not to think too much about it, he focused on his training; the hundreds if not thousands of katas he performed every day was something that he eventually made part of his usual routine. The days of when he and Ken lived and trained with Gouken would always be a pleasant memory that he cherished.

While punching the air, he slowed his movement thinking about it. Just thinking that maybe if he was just a bit stronger, he could have been able to stop his teacher from being assassinated. Such thoughts would produce negativity clouding his judgment and rationality but he never let it deter him from his goal of pushing past obstacles and striving to be the best he could be. No, he would not let those thoughts stop him and so he continued his training, he continued practicing his strikes, a flurry of kicks and punches permeated the tranquility of the air and the presence of nature in its most natural state helped him focus.

An hour later, Rose had finally woken up from her slumber and stretched herself to remove the stiff feeling in her joints and even though she had slept against a cave wall, she was surprisingly able to sleep sound in the cave with little to no problem at all. Maybe this was the part of the reason why Ryu often traveled from civilization seeing as it had too many interruptions. Speaking of Ryu, she looked around to see where Ryu had went and looking outside, she observed him doing various kicks and punches and also took notice of his change of clothing.

"Good morning, Ryu." Rose greeted the man making him stop his movement.

Ryu looked towards the entrance of the cave, he saw the fortuneteller standing up. He was so into training that he didn't even notice that she had been there for some time even though it was actually a few minutes. He grinned at her presence and greeted her back, "Good morning, Rose. How are you feeling?"

Stepping outside further, she walked up to him until they were a few feet from each other. "Well, I feel much better and surprisingly, it wasn't bad sleeping in a cave for the first time."

"Are your powers fully recovered?" He asked.

"Let's see." She closed her eyes and concentrated her power into her hands. Even though she could still feel Bison's impact on her, she was able to focus her energy into her hands to form two violet orbs into her hand. When she opened her eyes, she had a cheery smile on her face seeing that she had enough energy to at least defend herself once again. "Mind you, this does take some energy but I'm glad to at least be able to gain some power back. I haven't fully recovered but I feel I should be done regaining my full strength soon. Thank you, Ryu for watching over me. How about you, have you recovered? You did take some damage before."

Ryu knew that she was right, he never really did anything to see if anything was out of place or whatnot; also he didn't sleep the night before so it made sense on why she asked. Physically, he felt fine but that could just be his body deceiving him, it wouldn't be the first time it did. Maybe releasing one hadoken would determine if he was fine.

"That was all your effort and to your question, no to be honest. Should I try to release a hadoken to make sure?"

She nodded at his question. "You should, just to make sure."

Now closing his eyes and exhaling slowly, Ryu focused all his ki into both of his hands as a white energy with a bluish hue formed around them. After charging up for some time, his eyes opened and he released the energy in his hand.

"Shinku hadoken!" He yelled out.

After he released the energy, he shot towards a random direction making sure that no wildlife was hurt. Trees were knocked down after being scraped by the blast and many birds had flown away to get to safety seeing the trees crash against the floor.

"I think I overdid it, I hope none of the animals got hurt." He was a little winded but letting out such a huge amount of energy would always do that to him.

"It would seem so and judging by your energy, I think that our invisible spectators who have been following us are also amused by your display of power." Rose said to no one in particular.

"I thought I was the only person who felt a weird presence last night walking here. Ok, we know you're following us so come out and show yourself." Ryu said towards the bushes which he saw rustling from earlier.

What he and Rose saw surprised them. It was Misora, Tsubaki and Kanae. The three girls Ryu had fought with two days ago. Why did they follow them and what exactly did they want from Ryu, maybe a rematch?

"You are those three girls from before. Why have you been following us?" Rose inquired.

Tsubaki was the one to come up to answer her. "Well, um, we didn't want to at first but seeing as you were still in Niigata, we wanted to see if we can battle again." Ryu and Rose looked at each other both confused by her answer.

Ryu was now the one to ask so he could find out the real reason why they were following them. "That still doesn't answer our question. Now tell us the real reason why, we won't hurt you."

Misora now stepped to the front and kneeled on the ground, as a show of respect to the person who defeated her. She looked up to Ryu and asked, "Can you please teach us that technique that you just performed?"

"What technique are you talking about?" Ryu genuinely asked not knowing what she was talking about.

"That blast you just did with your hands. During all my life of practicing martial arts, I've never seen such a technique before in my life, I want to perform that move." Misora said still on her knee.

Ryu then realized what she was talking about, "Oh, you mean the hadoken."

"Hadoken? Is that what it's called? Then yes, that move. Please teach me how to do a hadoken. It looks like such an amazing move to perform. Please teach us." The young woman was persistent enough with Ryu to teach her his art's signature move. She thought maybe because of his knowledge of attacks was the reason why she lost to him before.

"I'm sorry but I can't teach you this move." Ryu had given his answer and turned around to Rose trying to figure out what they were going to do for the week before their trip.

Kanae stepped forward ready to challenge Ryu's answer. "Wait, why can't you teach us? We followed you for a long time hoping we can learn something about you and we did. You beat us when nobody else did and you respected our strength which not many people we've fought before do. So answer us again, why can't you teach us?"

Ryu sighed and Rose could tell of his internal battle on whether he should teach them or not. Such a move to teach these young girls; he taught Sakura before but she had picked it up quickly and was very eager to learn. These girls were a bit different from Sakura, the problem wasn't whether he could teach them but how they were going to apply this move in their future fights.

Deciding to answer them, he turned around and stared each of them in the face. "The reason I can't teach you is because I don't know what you'd do with this power if you was to ever learn of it."

"What do you mean?" Kanae asked confused by his words.

"Two days ago moments before I challenged you, a group of men had challenged and you would've probably beat them to death even I didn't interfere. I'm sure this isn't the first time you've done this and imagine what you could do if I did teach this to you. Sorry, but I can't take that risk."

Kanae was about to say something but then she realized what he was saying, they had been very brutal before to their opponents and if they did learn of such a technique, how did they know that they wouldn't use it to harm somebody or even kill them. Misora could see the frustration on her friend's face so she answered in her place.

"You're completely right, there's no reason why you should teach us that move at all whatsoever. I know that we've committed some heinous acts in the past before but be sure that we have never ended anyone's life before and we don't plan to anytime soon." Her words weren't on deaf ears as Ryu listened to her before she continued, "Please, let us prove our worth. We may be young girls compared to you and that woman beside you but please share your knowledge with us. So I beg of you, please teach us your technique! We won't use it for destructive purposes, we swear it on our lives and pride as martial artists."

Ryu could hear the passion and persistence in her voice and it reminded him of when Sakura first asked him to teach her the same move. He was still hesitant regardless of what they aid, he was already battling his own problems with the Satsui no Hadō and he didn't need to see these girls succumb to that kind of overwhelming power.

Rose could see the hesitance on his face so she decided to intervene. "Everyone calm down. I know that Ryu has second thoughts in teaching this technique to you and I know that you're looking for something new to learn. I could see where Ryu is coming from though, wouldn't you agree?"

Not saying anything, their answer was already given. Maybe it was a mistake following them seeing as nothing would benefit them from this trip. Feeling defeated, Misora stood up and bowed to Ryu for their time.

"I'm sorry that I wasted your time, I hope that you can challenge me sometime in the future. Until then, thank you for listening to my request." Misora proceeded to walk down the path she and her friends had followed them on. Maybe some challenges near the school would probably get her out of this crestfallen mood.

Her friends were going to say something but felt that if she couldn't persuade Ryu, then what hopes did they have? They soon began walking also until a voice stopped them.

"Hold on for a second." Ryu told them as he observed them walking.

"What's the point? You gave us your own answer." Kanae stated before they started walking again.

"What if I said that I would teach you how to do a hadoken?" Ryu could understand why they wanted to learn his art's technique. They reminded him of Sakura when she also saw Ryu perform it for the first time ever, the only thing was that Sakura wouldn't use it as a tool of malice. These girls were a completely different story, seeing as they were powerful in their own right, he had no idea what to expect from them at all.

Their eyes widened at his words, could he really teach them? They turned around and stared at that man who stared them down wondering if he was wise in choosing to teach them or not. Out of the three, Misora was the one who was most intrigued by his change of mind seeing that he had no problem denying her request with no problem. He had just reason to do so especially with the reason he provided.

"Whoa, what made you change your mind? Or is this a trick, because that would be really messed up just to get us all excited like that." Kanae was skeptic at his words.

"No, I keep my promises. Besides, it's refreshing to see young people like yourself willing to learn. One thing you must promise me is that you're not going to abuse this power in any way whatsoever, that's when I'll start to teach you." If he was going to do this, he would need these girls to promise him that they wouldn't use this power to harm anybody or to abuse it.

Misora was the first one to kneel down and proclaimed her promise swearing on her pride as a martial artist. "I, Misora Sugiyama swear as a martial artist and on my family's name vow not to use my powers for any future malice towards anyone."

As she observed the raven-haired girl, Tsubaki then proceeded to go down on their knee as she also made a promise as a martial artist. "As a martial artist, I will fulfill my promise not to do harm to anyone unless provoked or necessary." Tsubaki swore. Looking at her two friends, Kanae then figured that she had to do the same if Ryu was going to teach them so she got down on one knee also, "I swear on my pride as a martial artist, I will not abuse whatever powers you bestow upon us."

Looking at the three girls right now, Ryu was proud to see that they were this dedicated just to learn a technique that he hadn't even mastered himself yet. They reminded him of Sakura when she first met Ryu asking him of the same thing. Even though he felt that he wasn't at a point in life where he felt like he could teach anybody yet, he liked seeing enthusiastic people such as these girls.

Seeing that they were still on the ground, he felt that they had already proven themselves. "Ok, now stand," the girls stood up and looked at Ryu awaiting for his further instructions. "Seeing as I'm teaching you, I should at least learn the names of my students. My name is Ryu and you are?"

Misora stepped up and bowed her head, "My name is Misora Sugiyama. I am a practitioner of Chitō-Ryū karate, I also specialize in Chinese wushu and submission techniques. Thank you for taking your time to teach us Ryu-sensei."

"Whoa, whoa. I wouldn't say I'm qualified to be a master yet. Just Ryu is fine, the same goes for you two also." Rose smiled at how humble Ryu was but she understood what he meant when he didn't want to be called "sensei". Seeing that he had much of the world to explore, his time for being a master wasn't due yet.

"Now I believe that you two are next, aren't you?" Ryu indicated to Tsubaki and Kanae.

Tsubaki and Kanae huddled together figuring out who was going to introduce themselves next and got into a little argument. Moments later, Tsubaki realized that it was pointless and stepped to Ryu to introduce herself. "My name is Tsubaki Nagamine. I am a practitioner of Chitō-Ryū karate, Muay Thai and Tae Kwan Do. Sorry about two days ago." She sheepishly apologized recalling how they kind of overwhelmed him.

"It's ok, you shouldn't worry about something like that. Besides, it was nice to fight you seeing that you actually proved to be quiet the challenge for me. In a few years, you should be able to hold your own against the very best." Ryu praised her making Tsubaki blush a bit.

Ryu then looked at Kanae who had not yet introduced herself to Ryu making her step forward and bowing her head. "My name is Kanae Uemura, I practice Chitō-Ryū, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and judo. My favorite food is miso pork ramen and crepes. I also like dram-"

Seeing that she was speaking out of nervousness, Ryu held her shoulders and calmed down her nerves. "Whoa, whoa. Just relax and calm down. Breathe and get everything out. Just calm down." Kanae inhaled and exhaled as instructed. She calmed herself down and got her composure back.

Tsubaki rolled her eyes knowing that this was a problem when Kanae introduced herself, she could talk normally to other people but introductions were not her forte. She would always freeze up and if he she did talk, she would ramble on making people raise their eyebrows. Misora understood her friend's nervousness with introductions but it never stopped her from being her friend.

"Sorry about that, she lets her nerves take over for her when she's introducing herself to new people." Misora defended her friend's actions.

"No problem, it's okay." He walked over to Kanae and held her shoulders, "Just breathe and let your words come out. Start over."

Taking his advice, Kanae inhaled and exhaled calming herself down before reintroducing herself, "My name is Kanae Uemura and I'm a practitioner of Chitō-Ryū, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and judo. Thank you for taking the chance to teach us."

Seeing that introductions with him was out of the way, he decided to let Rose introduce herself as well; as traveling companions, he figured it best for the three young women to be acquainted with her as well. "Rose, why don't you introduce yourself as well?"

"Very well," she stepped up and formed two soul orbs making the girls stare in awe at the hypnotic glow emanating from the orbs. She saw that they were impressed and shortly made them disappear. "My name is Rose and as said before, I am traveling with Ryu, I'm glad we are on a much more pleasant terms than before."

The three girls were amazed by this woman and they had only met her twice. They didn't know why but these feelings of grace, brilliance and obscurity enshrouded them. Maybe it was because she was a foreigner that spoke fluent Japanese and that she had this serene and calm demeanor.

Tsubaki seeing as she was one of the two girls that was entangled in her scarf stepped up to ask a question. "Wait, is it possible to teach us that thing you did with that scarf also? That looks really cool."

Rose smiled at Tsubaki's curiosity. "I'm sorry but I can't, I was 'born' with these powers and its origin is more complicated than I comprehend." There was no reason to tell them about her connection to Bison.

"Damn. Alright, learning one move is enough of a gift." Tsubaki decided.

"Even though we are appreciative of you willing to teach us your technique Ryu-sensei, we've never really encountered people like you who have these powers in our life. How many people like you and Rose-san are out there?" Misora asked.

"There's many people out there, you just haven't met them yet but I'm sure you will." He answered.

Her curiosity was justified though, coming from a background that involved so much of strikes, kicks and any form of physical contact. She never considered that people would be able to form energy in their hands and levitate scarves in the air; she heard of it from many books and masters she studied under but thought of them as some toddler's fairy tales like the animations she watched when she was younger. Misora and her two friends loved martial arts, it was the reason why they became friends in the first place. Seeing Ryu release that hadoken made her realize that there was more in the world of martial arts and she loved learning about it, even if it meant that she would learn from someone that bested her in ability. Maybe Ryu cold teach her more than what she already knew.

"So, where do we train Ryu-sensei?" Misora inquired. Surely to practice such a technique, a great amount of space was required due to the hadoken's destructive properties. The cracked trees was a perfect example of practicing in a safe area away from civilization.

"What are you talking about? We train right here within the mountains, nature is the best place to train." Ryu responded pertaining to their location.

The girls' eyes widened at that and Tsubaki felt that she had to speak up at his response. "Hold up for a second, what do you mean 'nature is the best place'? We need a dojo or some kind of indoor building to at least protect ourselves. Also, it looks like it's going to rain soon."

"That isn't true, nature and martial arts have a harmony that you have to understand in order for it to make sense. The earth has many gifts that we take for granted every day. When I trained with my master when I was younger, he taught me more about life than fighting. When he, my friend and I used to train, we took in the sight of many plants, animals and the environment which help us harden our spirit." Ryu saw that they looked confused by what he said but he knew they weren't fully confused by what he was saying. Rose knew exactly what he was talking but she knew that the girls had to discover this themselves.

Getting into a stance, he exhaled loosening his muscles; his red hachimaki blowing along with the wind signifying the harmony with nature he was talking about. Pulling his arm back and forming his hand into a fist, he let out a battle cry and punched the air, it created a shockwave making the girls' eyes widen at his demonstration of power. "As I just let out a punch, I utilized the power of earth. Earth symbolizes the power in our strikes, such as the axe kick I received from Misora-san. You use the earth's power as leverage to determine the power and impact of your attacks."

The young women now understood what Ryu talked about. Now thinking about it, it made sense. How could they be such successful martial artists if they didn't respect nature and its gifts? Their silent awe allowed Ryu to speak once more.

"Earth represents the strikes in our power, fire represents our passion in what we aspire to be, water represents fluidity and being in control of our actions and wind represents the freedom to practice what we choose and to not restrict us. Wind has no confines whatsoever. You three are prime embodiments of wind, believe it or not."

"Wait, do you really mean that?" Tsubaki voiced her surprise seeing that he had praised them once again. He could surely have been modest to them seeing that they were still young but maybe he saw something that they didn't see or take notice of.

"Of course. You three all practice that same form of karate but each of you practice different arts such as judo, jiu-jitsu and many others. That's what I mean by you are embodiments of wind; you allowed yourself to learn things that appealed to each of you. Wind is not restricted to one place and you are not restricted to one art."

"So are we more attuned with wind seeing that we want to learn how to do a hadoken?" Misora asked and Ryu nodded. She then added, "So how about you, Ryu-sensei? Are you wind also?"

"Not really. I've met many people but I've been practicing my style for so many years that I haven't really adopted one to really learn about. Boxing is one that I'm interested in though." He answered with.

"Ryu-sensei, sorry to rush but when do we start training?" Misora asked. She didn't forget the reason why she and her friends had followed them in the first place.

Their enthusiasm reminded him of when he and Ken used to pester Gouken about when they were going to start training. Even though he understood their ambition to learn more about the hadoken, he wanted them to learn more about nature and life before he really taught them anything.

"Patience, patience. You will learn eventually just like I did, give it time and don't rush." He felt his stomach rumble loudly which made the four females look at him in curiosity. He sheepishly laughed before asking, "How about we eat some food first before we start your training?"

Rose and the three girls chuckled at Ryu's question but they nodded in response. Gathering their items, they found a restaurant somewhere not too far from the forest they stayed at. After their meals, they went into a park known for early morning practices of tai chi and meditation. To Ryu, it would make sense for them to start from here. Looking at the skies, the weather could be a factor but if they were willing to learn about harmony, they had to endure whatever conditions were present.

Finding an empty field where some of the elderly citizens were practicing tai chi, Ryu brought the girls into a field. Now sitting in a seiza, he asked the girls to sit with him also. Rose had moved herself to a bench seeing that she had been sitting on the ground for a few times ever since she woke up from her sleep.

"A hadoken is not just letting energy form in your hand and releasing it. It's your concentration and energy that gives it form. My master taught me that martial arts should be used to defend yourself from what evils may come our way. Do you understand what I mean?" The girls somewhat understood what he meant.

He looked down and closed his eyes. "That's why when I saw you beat those men without mercy, it made me angry and determined to challenge and defeat you; you were beating them within an inch of their lives," The girls looked down as his words pierced through them but he continued, "but that doesn't take away your talent but what I'm saying is that there is more to martial arts than just striking something or someone. It's about disciplining character and strengthening our inner self."

Now looking at the elderly groups practicing tai chi, the girls could see where he was coming from. They had absentmindedly nodded at times before at what he was trying to make them see, even Misora who was the most disciplined out of the three had been confused by Ryu's words. Once they actually took a good look at the elders, they looked very appreciative of life and their movements also emphasized the calmness of it as well. Misora decided to follow Ryu's words and open herself to the parts of martial arts that she neglected.

"I now see what you mean." Misora said.

"Good. Now close your eyes and look within yourself. Let everything flow to you, don't force yourself to do so. Take in the essence of nature and let it lead you to being in tune with yourself. Feel the energy coursing through you." Ryu instructed the girls as he was taught by Gouken. He looked at each of them and even though he knew they weren't going to get it on the first try, it still brought a proud reaction from him to see this trio of young women trying to learn.

With their eyes closed, they focused on the atmosphere and the surroundings around them. Taking Ryu's advice, their senses were enhanced by the concentration of the ki in their body. They could hear the sounds of the rustling grass, the sounds of the elderly groups' movements practicing tai chi, birds chirping, they could "see" more than they could before and that was what impressed them the most. Feeling this new sensation of energy flowing through their bodies made them wonder why they hadn't done this before.

'Whoa, I can somehow hear much better than before, the sounds are so crisp. Is this what Ryu-sensei meant by looking within yourself?' Kanae was easily impressed by the new flow of sensations going through her. They were new to her and it was completely different from the satisfaction she ever had from fighting.

'This is all so new and strange to me. I never knew that you could feel like this before. I knew there was more to martial arts than fighting but I've completely neglected that just so we could win.' Tsubaki voiced exactly what all three of them were feeling at the moment. Even though it was foreign to what they knew prior about martial arts, she welcomed it seeing to how they helped enhance her inner being.

Misora could see everything possible. She looked within herself and it was like a battle that she never encountered before. This conflict of aggression and compassion was a bit overbearing. She knew that she had to concentrate if she wanted to learn how to perform a hadoken. She could feel the ki in her body jump around her but then she remembered Ryu telling her to relax herself. He knew that they could possibly try to force it out, which is why he asked them to try concentrating first. Concentrate and relax, that's what her mind told her.

Shortly after this first experience, the girls opened their eyes and somehow they felt lighter than before. They had no knowledge about this before and they were pretty glad that Ryu introduced them to this new experience.

"So how was it?" Ryu asked.

"It was like nothing I've ever felt before, I feel much lighter. Is this what you did when you were younger?" Asked Tsubaki.

"Yep, my friend and I had the same reaction as you when we first did it. Our master was very strict when it came to us learning this because he didn't want us to abuse it. It's pretty much the same reason in why I'm training you in the same way. Seeing as you've experienced the flow of ki in your body, would you like to try it out?" Ryu asked surprising the girls.

"Really? Do you think we can do it?!" Kanae asked excitedly.

"It's not really if I think you can, but do you yourself think you can?" Ryu always looked at the potential of people who put in the effort. He believed in Sakura's effort in trying to learn and that is why she was able to perform it. Did these girls believe in themselves? That was something only they had the answer to.

"I know we can do it! Just watch me!" Kanae was confused now. She didn't even know how to perform it. Looking to Ryu, she asked, "Um, how do you do it?" She asked while chuckling nervously.

He laughed at her enthusiasm but he listened to her request. "Well, you take your weakest leg and bend it like this while using your strongest one to help hold you up. Then you should put your hands together while exposing your palms, you pull them back and concentrate the energy in your palms, when you feel like you're ready, you thrust your palms forward letting the energy come out." Even though they thought his demonstration was a bit weird, they decided not to challenge it. After all, he was the one teaching his it to them.

"Okay. I pull back and it should come out just like that," she pulled back her hands and did the pose exactly as Ryu told her. "I'll also scream the move like you did seeing as that helped when you did it, it should help me. Now, hadoken!" She thrust her hands out expecting something to come out and to show that she finally learned a new move.

Much to her surprise, nothing came out at all.

She looked stupefied for a second. She did the pose as his instructions followed, did the mediation he asked of them, so what was wrong?

"What? Why didn't anything come out?! All right, let's try again. I probably didn't try hard enough the first time. Hadoken!" The results were the same like last time and not giving up, she tried again and again making onlookers look at what she was doing. After some time, she understood that it wasn't coming out regardless of what she did.

"Why? Why isn't it coming out?!" Kanae asked frustratingly. She looked at Ryu and she was angry at him for leading her on believing she could do it if she just 'tried'. "You made me look like an idiot just now! What's up with that, I thought you believed in "potential" or whatever you want us to believe. We shouldn't have asked you to teach us if you were just going to take us all for a ride like this!"

Ryu could just feel her anger just emanating from her and he was about to say something until Misora spoke to her friend first.

"Kanae, stop acting like a child." She told her calmly.

She directed her eyes at Misora shocked that she could ask her for such a thing. "What do you mean stop? Misora, are you really going to tell us that you believe this guy is really going to teach us anything? You see what he did to me just now!"

Tsubaki decided not to say anything deciding to just let everything play out by itself. She understood her friend's anger and Misora telling her to calm down.

Ryu could predict what Misora was about to say so he left it to her.

"I know what Ryu-sensei was about to tell you but I'll tell if he lets me," she looked at him as if asking his permission. He nodded his head giving a silent okay. "He knew that we would fail in trying to perform this technique. I actually expected it to be honest."

Kanae and Tsubaki stood silent but the former had to ask what she was talking about. "What do you mean? We've been able to get many techniques down just by performing them even once. This shouldn't be any different."

Misora understood her point but responded. "But **this **is different and we've also performed many moves which we haven't perfected just by doing it once. This is something that comes from within, we have to look into places we've never been to so that we can understand how this technique is performed which Ryu-sensei has obviously been to or he wouldn't be trying to teach us this move. Do you understand now?"

Looking down, she looked at Ryu and asked, "Is it true? Did you know that we wouldn't be able to do it the first time we tried to?"

Taking a big breath, he answered her. "Yes, I did. The reason why I did that was to show you that you can't master something just by doing it once, I'm sure you know that already. Different people learn at different paces which is why Sakura was able to learn it after just one try, it isn't mastered though. You must learn at your own pace instead of trying to learn everything the fastest. It is not only applied to just martial arts but to everything else in the world which requires a lot of learning."

Looking down now, Kanae understood what he and Misora meant. This was a new challenge she had never experienced the likes of before. She knew that right now, she could walk away and give up all together in learning this move. Even though she wanted to, her pride as a martial artist prevented her from leaving and if that involved failing a couple times, then so be it.

"Okay, you're right about that. I hope that you can let me learn from my mistakes so that I can further progress. I'm sorry for yelling at you." Kanae said this while bowing her head. It was the least she can do after lashing out like that.

"Don't worry, Kanae. We're human and we should always learn from our errors no matter how small they may be." Ryu told her. He knew that mistakes were inevitable, the best was how would they learn from it?

"So Ryu-sensei, did you make a lot of mistakes when it came to learning how to do a hadoken?" Tsubaki asked. She stayed quiet for a while so it was best for her to ask some questions from time to time.

"Many times. My master taught me exactly how I was teaching you; I actually was patient in learning because it made no sense for me to rush anything. After a few months of training and practice, it became a thing of second nature to me."

"So what do we do next, Ryu-sensei?" Tsubaki asked.

"We continue training, then we take a break. I wouldn't want you to overexert yourselves," he then went into the seiza position again. "Do you still want to continue?"

"Yes!" All three shouted. They then went into a seiza position themselves and started meditating again. They figured that even though they would like to learn the technique as quick as possible, they knew that it wouldn't be easy and that patience was their ally at the moment. Besides, if Ryu said that they could do it, then best assured they believed they could do it also. Rose was watching him as he taught them, she really saw Ryu as a kind person even though he had his own struggles to fight against.

The hours went by as they did take a break from training as he promised. He saw their efforts in the few hours he trained them, it was very admirable to him to see what motivation could do for their young bodies. Ryu decided to spar with each of them so he could test their abilities, he figured that maybe some assessment of their skills would determine how long it would take them to perform a hadoken. Judging by the way they sparred, he figured that it wouldn't take them long at all to perform one.

"Okay, let's call it quits for today." Ryu cold feel himself getting tired but he didn't mind it, things like this is what he lived for and it only made him want to pursue more when it came to challenging new people.

The girls were a bit disappointed hearing that he wanted to stop but they understood his request, they had been training for some hours and they were tired as well. Maybe some rest is what they needed.

"You're probably right. Maybe we can try again later today?" Kanae asked with that same enthusiasm from earlier.

"Yes, for some reason it feels much different fighting you than before. Is it because of the meditation?" Misora could feel her body be much more precise than before. She accredited it to the new breathing techniques Ryu taught them.

"Maybe tomorrow. As I said before, it's not good to overexert your body because that will do more harm than good." He said to Misora. "And to answer your question Misora, the meditation helps but it's not just that, it's also your motivation and strength that has a role in this. You three should be proud of yourself." He bowed to them as they repeated the gesture also.

Even though it was the afternoon, Ryu decided that he was done for the day. He picked up his duffle bag and called Rose over. She was sitting all day amused by their training. This surprised the three girls as they thought he was leaving to continue on his journey. No, this couldn't happen now, not when they had been taught so much today. They still was learning how to perform a hadoken and if he left, how would they learn what to do next?

Taking notice of this, Tsubaki had to voice her question, "Ryu-sensei, are you leaving Niigata now?"

"Well, not right now. Rose and I won't be leaving for a week seeing as our boat isn't here yet. I can still train you if that's what you're wondering."

This news brought some joy to the girls face until they heard him say something else that brought a shock to their faces.

"What, you're only going to be here for a week?!" The surprise in Kanae's voice could be heard by him and judging by the others' faces, he could tell they were genuinely shocked at his time of departure.

"Yeah. Our next destination is China where I have to meet someone I'm acquainted with." He didn't want to leave but he knew that taking a trip to China would help him and probably help Rose with her soul powers.

"So where are you staying?" Tsubaki asked. Maybe if they knew where he stayed then he would meet them and they could train for the upcoming days before her trip.

"Well, we're actually not staying in a particular place. We've been in the woods since last night." His recent statement made their jaws drop and eyebrows raise just wondering who this guy really was.

Misora decided she heard enough so she stepped in front of Ryu. "Ryu-sensei, I have a proposition for yours and Rose-san's housing situation."

His eyebrow raised at her words so he wanted her to elaborate. "What do you mean?"

"Seeing as you don't have a place to stay, what I'm saying is that you can stay at my home for the time being. This is so you can continue to teach us." Ryu and Rose was definitely caught off guard. They thought about, they had a week and even though they could most likely afford a hotel, staying outdoors was more of a solace thing.

"And where exactly do you live if I may ask?" Asked Rose.

"Well, I live in a decent place if I do say so myself. It's in the afternoon so I highly doubt anyone's home so we can leave now." She spoke proudly of her home, she knew they would be surprised and grateful for a place of residence even if it was only for a few days.

They thought about it, Rose especially but decided that they had nothing to lose so why not take a chance on this generosity. "Okay, we'll follow you to your place of residence." She spoke for her and Ryu as she accepted her offer.

"Thank you for accepting my offer. Tsubaki, Kanae, shall we leave now?" Her friends nodded which gave her confirmation for them to finally leave the park.

A series of questions were going through Rose and Ryu's minds. What was Misora's house like? Where exactly did she leave? Could this be a ploy to keep them from traveling to China on their departure date? They would figure it out once they got to her home.

After a thirty minute walk from the park, they approached a big fence. A very big fence. Now approaching the gate, they saw two guards standing by the door. Ryu and Rose were now wondering what this place was.

Now in front of the gate, the two fighters wondered what was happening. They saw Misora step in front of the two guards who now was talking to them. "Ueki, Hayato. Please open the door for me and my guests." Ryu stood surprised at her words directed to the two guards in front of them.

"Hai, Misora-sama!" One of the guards opened the gate allowing her and the others to come inside.

"It seems you have other people besides Tsubaki-sama and Kanae-sama with you. Are they also with you?" The guard called Hayato asked.

"Yes, they are. Please don't be alarmed by their appearance, there's more to them than the eye could see." Misora clarified to the guards. She knew how circumspect they could be whenever someone entered the Sugiyama household.

"Also Misora-sama, Ayane-sama has been worrying about you since last night seeing that you didn't come home." Ueki said.

"I'll take care of mother, I'll see you guys later." She responded with.

Complying with her request, they allowed them to come in. Ryu and Rose was surprised that this large infrastructure was her home. A traditional Japanese building could be seen from the entrance; grand and beautiful it stood. They discovered that the inside was also laced with ponds, fields with cherry blossoms and yellow chrysanthemums. Servants around tending to different places of the interior. They couldn't believe that one of these young girls lived in a place like this.

Now entering the house and leaving their shoes, they arrived in the living room to see a woman wearing a purple kimono with her head on a table. It was very obvious to them that she was asleep unaware of their presence.

Misora went to the woman and shook her body a bit making her groan a bit before pulling herself up. "Mother, I've returned."

The kimono-clad woman rose up and squinted her eyes before realizing it was Misora standing in front of her, she gave her a hug glad that she was back home. "Oh Misora, where have you been? I was getting worried about you seeing that you didn't come back last night."

"Well, I had to seek out someone." She then pointed out to Ryu and Rose. "This is Ryu-sensei and his traveling companion, Rose-san."

Taking a look at the people she was introduced to, she bowed her head and greeted them. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Ayane Sugiyama. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

They bowed back also. Rose being the one to talk, "It's nice to also meet you madam. I must thank you and Misora for letting us in your lovely home."

Ayane was surprised by how well her Japanese was, "My goodness! Your Japanese is so good for a foreigner, where are you from?"

"Thank you and I come Genoa, Italy." She responded back.

Ayane knew of Italy, she had been there for many vacations with her family. She thought the country was beautiful with their food and appreciative culture. This was her first time meeting someone from Italy in Japan.

"My name is Ryu, it's nice to meet you also."

"It's a pleasure to meet you and judging by your clothes, you're not from around here, are you?" She took notice of the torn gi Ryu was now wearing.

"Well, no I'm not. This is actually my first time visiting this area, it's been a good trip so far." He laughed at Ayane's quick observation. Was it that obvious to see that he wasn't from Niigata?

"If that's the case, then let me welcome you to Niigata and I hope you continue to enjoy your visit." Ryu could tell she was a kind person just by her light and cheery tone.

"Hey, Auntie Ayane!" Kanae yelled gaining the older woman's attention.

"Hello Tsubaki and Kanae, it seems you're here for dinner today also?" She asked. She was well known to the two girls she considered family.

"Not exactly, Auntie. We're more just following Misora seeing as she promised Ryu-sensei and Rose-san a place to sleep." Tsubaki answered which made her wonder what she meant.

"Mother, is it okay for them to stay for a while? I need them to be available seeing as they're not staying somewhere as of the moment." Misora asked hoping it was okay.

"Well, I'd have to listen to your story before I decide anything." So they sat down and discussed what happened two days ago and started connecting everything together. Ayane was impressed by how Ryu offered to teach them a move of his own.

"So that's what those injuries were. This only means that you must continue training and thank you Ryu for humbling my daughter and her friends. It's been a while since she's had a genuine smile on her face. Please stay until you're ready to leave."

"Thank you for your generosity and I'll be sure to teach them all that I can before I leave." Ryu and Rose bowed as a show of their gratefulness.

"Please, it isn't a problem at all. So I hear that you're traveling so where exactly are you traveling next if you don't mind answering?" Ayane asked curious to where they were going.

"China is our next destination. We leave in a week so we're very limited in time in teaching them. I believe that they have the skills to go far so a week should be enough." Even though Ryu knew a week wouldn't be enough, he was confident that they would be able to gain something in the week that they had.

"Well, if a person like you says so, then it must be true. Anyway, please eat with us tonight seeing that you're our guests." Ayane started leading them to the dining hall and when they stepped inside, they were greeted with many trays of food and servants ready to serve them whatever they asked of them.

The amount of food laid across the table marveled in their eyes. Different sorts of food from all corners of Japan was present in their eyes, simple foods like onigiri to expensive ones like Kobe steak, it was hard to believe that Misora and her family had access to dishes like this every day. Looking at the matriarch of the family, she told them that they could eat as much food as they could possibly eat. Ryu thanked her especially seeing that he didn't have access to food like this on a daily basis. Rose couldn't help but chuckle at Ryu's fascination to the amounts of prepared dishes laid in front of him.

After the meal, Rose and Ryu were lead to their room; it was a simple room that held a bit of elegance to it. Two futons were prepared for the fighters just in case they decided not to sleep together. They thanked the house servants for their help and for providing them with a bedroom. They could see the towels and robes for whenever they needed to go to the bathroom.

Ryu set down his duffel bag and sat on the futons reveling in how soft it was. "That was one of the best meals I ever had in my life. I've never seen so much food before, if only Ken was here to enjoy it. Although, I never imagined Misora to come from a wealthy family. What about you, Rose? Have you enjoyed yourself today?"

"It has been a very interesting day today. The food is amazing but the thought of Bison appears every now and then." She said with a sad smile on her face.

Moving closer to her, he put a hand on her shoulder making her look his way. "Rose, Bison is no more and you're allowed to live your life however you wish. I told you before that you're your own person and no one can tell you otherwise. Seek the positive things in life and don't let the past be your burden."

Hearing that made an optimistic smile appear on her face. She knew Ryu was right about Bison but she felt like something was holding onto her and that was the thing that bothered her. Even so, she would take Ryu's advice and look towards a better tomorrow, it was the least she could do for him as seeing he did allow her to follow him.

"You're right Ryu. Maybe I am worried too much about it. To be honest, I probably won't stop thinking about it but I won't allow it to dictate who I am or what I do. Thank you, Ryu." She did something before that she never did before: she hugged him. Even though it was one of friendship, Ryu couldn't help but blush at the fortuneteller's gesture of affection but he hugged her back as well, Rose was his friend and that word alone was enough for him to help her with whatever problems had.

Now releasing the hug, she did admit that she felt better about everything. It was times like this that she had to be grateful about her powers, such a blessing and a curse in one, it was the reason why she was allowed to meet Ryu in the first place. "Your words are comforting Ryu. It helps me feel at ease, I don't know why but they just do."

"You're a good friend, Rose. Even though we've only known each other for a short time, we've become very familiar with each other and because of that, I think of you as a very good friend of mine. Just know that I will be there just in case you need someone to talk to." Ryu's words were just as sincere as the other times she needed advice or some reassuring words. Knowing that he considered her a friend, Rose could feel some form of satisfaction from his words and to her that was good enough.

"Thank you Ryu. I consider you a good friend also, it makes me feel everything will happen naturally the way it's supposed to be. It makes me feel more human." Rose said while looking at the man.

"Don't worry, it will. It's best not to let your negative thoughts cloud your thinking. Also, you were already human before you met Bison and still are to me. Now, I think we should wash up before going we go to sleep, you can take the shower first." Just like at Takahiro's place, Ryu allowed Rose to go first to clean herself.

Rose smiled at his gesture but she had to decline him this time, "Ryu, I'm thankful that you would let me go first but to repay you for last time, you should be able to go first this time."

Caught off guard, Ryu had to ask. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm grateful for that but we are equal so we should treat each other like so. I'll take mine after so don't worry." She told him.

He grinned at her words but he did thank her for allowing him to take a shower first. "Thank you, Rose. To be frank, I'm actually pretty dirty after today." Taking off his gi, he put it inside his duffel and as he turned around to walk to the bathroom, Rose couldn't help but look at his chiseled back; his shoulders, lats and traps all stood out which made her mind wander into foreign territories that she tried to stay away from.

Thinking of what does muscles looked like with a woman in his arms, she realized quickly therefore stopping herself before letting her mind go too far in her thoughts, she breathed out to gain her composure and laid down waiting for her turn to take shower.

She recollected her thoughts of today as she spent her time meditating and trying to obtain all her power back. The future was one she thought of constantly, it made sense seeing as she is a fortuneteller so contemplating the future was a habitual thing for Rose. Her powers of vision was unfortunately not of help right now seeing that she had not fully recovered yet but maybe there was a reason for this, a strong believer of fate she was so would leave it up to fate to decide what future awaited her and Ryu.

"Rose, I'm done with the shower. It's all yours." Out of her thoughts, she turned to Ryu who was standing there shirtless in pajama pants.

"Oh, thank you." She changed her clothes into a pink bathrobe and walked to the bathroom ready to wash herself. Stepping in, she looked at herself in the mirror and realized the stress of everything that was going on as it showed on her face. Looking at the bathtub, she thought that maybe her affinity of baths would help ease her worries. It was the only thing that she could think of at the moment. Stepping in the bath, she laid down in it letting its therapeutic comfort her mind.

Now done with the bath, she stepped out back to see Ryu practicing his nightly katas. This was one thing she had to appreciate about Ryu and his training: his dedication. It took a lot of training and willpower for him to discipline himself to do this every night.

"Hey Rose. After my training, we can go to sleep. It seems we have one exciting week in front of us." He anticipated what the following week held for him but like Rose he would leave it to fate.

Deciding to wait for Ryu to finish, she sat down and formed two soul orbs while meditating. She concentrated forming the violet orbs in her hands.

*Knock, knock.*

They paid attention to the sliding door where they heard the source of knocking. Wondering who it was, they both went to the door to find out who it was at this time of night. Ryu slid the door to the side as the person now standing in front of him was Misora.

Wondering what the young martial artist wanted, Ryu asked, "What is it, Misora?"

"Ryu-sensei. What I'm about to say might seem ludicrous but I hope you can consider this request I ask of you and Rose-san." She looked down not ready to look at the two fighters in the face.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well, I know you said you're leaving in a week but what I ask of you may seem selfish and inconsiderate of me." She twiddled her fingers nervously not knowing how to voice her request.

He put a hand on her shoulder calming her down. "It's better to ask then to never have asked at all. What is your request?"

"Realistically, we wouldn't be able to utilize a week to learn how to do a hadoken. I was wondering if you could stay with us for a bit longer to teach us. I beg of you, please Sensei!" Misora said with her head bowed down.

The two were surprised by her request and it made sense to them on why she was nervous. Ryu could only do so much but he had to answer her request.

"Misora, I'd love to teach you but we've already bought our tickets for China. How would we reschedule our trip?" He really loved to stay longer but the tickets were expensive enough as it was.

"My family has enough money to help you buy tickets! Just stay for three weeks with us and I'll be sure that you get compensated for it. Just please stay and help us train, Ryu-sensei! A week isn't enough for us but under your guidance, I'm sure that we'll be able to do it in three. Give us that chance. Please." After today, she knew that she needed help in performing this technique and seeing Kanae not being able to perform it was more incentive in asking him to stay longer.

Hearing little whimpers from her mouth, Rose lifted Misora's head to see tears on her face which surprised Ryu but Rose knew the whole time of the young woman's emotions on her face even if they couldn't be seen.

"When I see your tears, I see the dedication and passion in your eyes to learn. It amazes me that you put your pride aside just to learn from someone better than you. That takes a lot of courage to me." Rose pulled Misora into her arms letting her muffled cries out on her clothes. Still holding Misora, she looked to Ryu and asked, "Ryu, stay and help them for the extra few weeks. We'll still be able to get to China. Let's just help these young women first then focus on that. What do you say?"

With a sigh, he couldn't help but grin at Rose's words and the passion in Misora's request. He put his hands on the young woman's shoulder which made her look up at him with anticipating eyes waiting for his answer.

"Okay, we'll stay but you have to work hard for the next three weeks. Put your best into it and even if it doesn't work out, you're still learning. I look forward to training you for the next three weeks." Hearing that, Misora threw her arms around the Shotokan practitioner which he returned.

Releasing Ryu, she was about to leave until an orb formed in front of her and stopped her.

"I realized you and the others missed school today. Even though you're enthusiastic about your training, no more skipping school. All knowledge is good knowledge, remember that. After school, your training can come after then. Do we have an agreement?" Rose told her.

"Yes, Rose-san! I'll be sure not let you down. Thank you Ryu-sensei for giving us this chance. Good night and I look forward to our training!" She ran to the bedroom happy that her request was approved.

Closing the door, Ryu never that would happened so his reaction was very neutral but he did know that this was going to be a challenge but he looked forward to it.

"Ryu, those girls are going to be very grateful to you for what you're doing for them. Look at it as them looking up to you just like Sakura looks up to you. They want to learn from you and emulate you so that's something to be proud of." Rose looked at him and he then formed a grin on his face.

"I guess you're right, Rose. I just hope that I'm making the best decision here."

"I'm sure you are, Ryu. Anyway, it's time to sleep. We'll figure out what to do during our stay here." Rose then turned off the lights as they went into their futons.

Even though it was unexpected, Ryu was looking forward to it and it would certainly help spread the name of Shotokan karate to the rest of the martial arts world. With three girls to train and a trip to China to look forward to, he could only imagine what would be the next chapter of his journey.

* * *

Feather Drop: Writing procrastination  
I now that this chapter took a while so I'll keep it short for you. I procrastinated a lot during writing this chapter which I literally just finished just last night which makes me shake my head at my laziness and my writing habits. I don't know why it took me so long but it did. I hope I can post up much quicker seeing as there are people that are following this story. I'm not gonna drop the story but I will take time doing a lot pf proofreading which will most likely help in the long run.

I hope you enjoy reading and until next time, take care!


	4. A Bouquet of Carnations, Orchids & Lilac

**A/N**: Thank goodness this chapter took shorter than expected when it comes to updating this story. I'm proud to say that this chapter was done in much less time than the previous three. Anyways, I'm here to provide the next chapter and thanks out to the guys who follow this story and is always eager to see it updated. I hope I can make it thing to upload this quicker seeing as I'm working on other stories to upload here. The name of the chapter has flowers and the themes provided in this chapter references the flowers used in the chapter title. Look them up, it's pretty interesting. Thank you for your support and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

"Flowers... are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world."- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Change is a continuous process. You cannot assess it with the static yardstick of a limited time frame. When a seed is sown into the ground, you cannot immediately see the plant. You have to be patient. With time, it grows into a large tree. And then the flowers bloom, and only then can the fruits be plucked."- Mamata Banarjee

* * *

**Chapter 4**

A week had went by since Ryu promised Misora that he would hold off on leaving and he kept to his word. Even though it was unprecedented, he and Rose had very few qualms about staying in Niigata for just a bit longer.

Maybe it was some working of fate to teach these young girls. As the days went by, he could see them improving slowly but surely; maybe his teachings did help more than he initially thought.

During the times when the girls were at school, he would spar against some of the guards of the Sugiyama household and they shortly discovered that they couldn't hold a candle to Ryu whatsoever. To him, it was a good thing for him to test himself against willing challengers.

Rose was teaching some of the maids and gardeners the allure of fortunetelling and how it could possibly be of some use to them. She knew that horoscopes were a popular topic amongst Japanese women, especially younger ones trying to find a man for courting and marriage. Her powers of divination attracted attention a bit more than the people in Genoa she did and she was always glad to teach them whatever she could about tarot cards, fortunetelling and astrology which were especially popular for women with a significant other.

It was a Saturday night which meant that he was now able to give his new students his full divided attention without schoolwork impeding any of their training, Ryu was sitting at on a porch while they sparred in one of the many yards that Misora's family had. They did continue to train every day but with a shorter time seeing as Misora did promise them that they would give their attention more to their schoolwork than their training during those days.

Ryu saw their results progressing rather quickly which left him impressed but he wondered when exactly they were going to perform a hadoken themselves. Seeing them train their hardest, he had to acknowledge their progress, "You girls are really working hard. Keep it up!"

Stopping after hearing that, Misora turned to him, "Really? Do you think I'm ready to do a hadoken now?"

The excitement in her voice brought some joy to the Shotokan practitioner but he had to be honest. "Not yet but you'll get there. Besides, it's not up to me but up to you to believe in yourself but I'm confident you'll be able to do it."

Even though his news was disheartening, it didn't stop the girls from practicing, it only meant that they had to work much harder.

Seeing that many hours went by since they began their training and it was the third time they sparred today, Ryu knew that they needed a break.

"I think you've done enough training so let's stop for now." They stopped and the sweat on their bodies indicated that they had truly been working hard for a while. "I think you need some food, can't have you overworking yourselves."

"I have some snacks and tea in case you want some." Ayane said while standing at the door with a tray of snacks in her hand.

Thankful for the snacks, they motioned their tired bodies to move to the tray and was glad that they finally had some food after another intense training session. It was nice to relax seeing that they had been training every day ever since Ryu and Rose decided to stay.

"Wow, I'm beat. I don't know if I can go on tonight." Kanae said while eating some onigiri.

Tsubaki felt that had to echo her friend's words. "Yes, it seems that this training is starting to wear down on us much harder than I thought."

Ryu understood their complaints so he decided to do something for them. "Hey, how about I give you a day off tomorrow?"

The girls looked at him with their eyes wide and Misora had to ask just to make sure, "A day off? Are you sure?"

Ryu gave a nod as his answer. "Yeah, you guys have been working hard as of late and you do need a break for you to recuperate. It's not best to train everyday but I guess I should take my own advice, huh?"

As they ate, they took in the outdoor breeze and listened closely to the chirps of crickets and cicadas in the garden. The meditating really helped a lot with their hearing as they were able to hear sounds much clearer and crisper than before.

"Ryu-sensei?" He turned to Tsubaki who caught his attention. "What makes you so strong? What motivates you to keep pushing yourself?"

Not really surprised by her question, he looked into the stars layered in the night sky while answering her question. "Well, many things. Of course to protect myself and to be the strongest person in the world. But I made a promise to my master that I told myself I'd keep going until I'm no longer of this earth."

"Really? So what happened to your master?" Tsubaki asked once more.

"He was killed long ago in a sparring match." He answered solemnly.

The air got spiritless and tense hearing that, the girls never knew that Ryu had encountered tragedy and it explained why he was so powerful and motivated.

Tsubaki looked down and spoke in a dejected tone. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

He looked to the young girl and put a hand on her shoulder making her look at him surprised by the big grin on his face. "It's alright, you have nothing to apologize for. Rose felt the same way when I told her."

Looking at the three of them, he had a question that he was going to finally have the chance to ask them. "Now I have a question for you. What made you decide to practice martial arts?"

With the sound of the sliding door, Rose appeared and stood at the entranceway surprising the girls. "Yes, I'm also intrigued in why you practiced martial arts also."

The girls looked at each other figuring out who was going to answer him first but Misora decided to do so.

"Well, when I was young, I didn't really have many friends. I think people were scared of offending me seeing as I came from a rich family so none of the other children approached me." She stood up and looked into the sky before continuing, "I was amazing in school and even though it was great that I was having good grades, it felt empty and shallow only being rewarded for just good grades. That was when I met Kanae in kindergarten."

"Yup!" Kanae yelled and continued the story. "We first met each other when we were like 5 and I saw that this girl looked so sad and lonely so I decided to talk to her. Mind you, Misora was sort of a wet blanket at first and it took some time to get her out of her shell but it was worth it in the end."

"Is that so?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, I'd invite her out to my house and we'd watch a lot of martial arts movies because they looked so cool with all the pow and crack and everything! So we asked our families to sign us up for karate classes but they were scared we'd get hurt and everything but after some later convincing we found out we had a knack for it and we were the best in that class beating down all the boys especially making all the girls cheer for us. By the time we were 13, we had already became blackbelts. The instructors were shocked by how strong we were and it just made us closer than before."

Misora smiled at the memory, it always left her with a heartwarming feeling every time she reminisced about that day. It was the reason why she felt that she and Kanae were practically sisters.

"It seems that you two are the very best of friends then. Sounds just like my best friend and I. You might meet him someday if you're lucky." Ryu said with a grin.

"Yes, very good friends and the best friends I could ever ask for." Misora said while sitting letting her raven tresses blow to the direction of the wind.

"So how about you, Tsubaki-san?" Ryu asked wondering how she exactly met them herself.

Tsubaki made a little smile before speaking. "Well, at first I didn't really didn't think much of them at first in all honesty," she said surprising both Rose and Ryu, "I actually fought against both of them first before I became friends with them and that was back when we were in middle school."

"It's true, there was some tension between us and we eventually decided to spar so we could see which one of us was the better fighter." Misora said.

"Yeah, she actually did quite a number on us and weeks after that, we were still hurting a bit." Kanae said while lying down on the porch.

Tsubaki then continued. "Yes, I was a transfer student from Germany seeing that my mother was German and my father was Japanese. You could see by my strange blonde hair that I'm not fully Japanese so I stuck out quite a bit. People were used to mixed Japanese citizens but they still hadn't been used to seeing them go to schools around the area."

"So how did you overcome it?" Ryu asked.

"I couldn't or more like I didn't want to. I visited Japan when I was younger but I never expected myself living ever living there. I left my hometown and all my friends who I had known all my life back in Germany. My father taught me martial arts seeing that he wanted instill discipline in me. To be honest, I resented my father at first because it was like torture but as I got older, I actually found myself grateful to him for instilling this discipline in me." She then looked at her two friends. "If I didn't, I would have never met Kanae or Misora so I'm thankful for that. We respected each other's strength and we slowly became friends like that."

To hear of these girls story, it made Ryu thankful for all the people he met, the cultures he studied, the challengers he faced off against. The thing that made him the most proud was that these three girls were friends who's love of martial arts brought them together. The values he learned from it were incomparable to anything else seeing that it shaped him to be the man he was today.

"I'm proud that you were able to become good friends. I'm sure the three of you will go far in the future." He told them.

Even though they knew Ryu was being modest, it still made them a bit ecstatic and timid to hear of someone with such amazing strength acknowledge them even though they hadn't even scratched the surface of martial arts yet.

"What about you, Rose-san?" Misora asked the Italian fortuneteller.

Rose was surprised by the sudden question but regaining her composure, she answered her question. "Well, I'm just a fortuneteller, that's just about it."

"Just a fortuneteller Rose-san? With your skills, are you sure there isn't more to you than what meets the eye?" Misora obviously knew that Rose was an incredible fighter. Why she didn't talk about it much, she didn't know.

"Well, some of the citizens in my hometown have taught me how to defend myself so I guess that's where my soul powers come in but that's about it. Beyond that, I'm just a fortuneteller." She said seeing that she never really talked about her origin or her fighting ability.

Seeing as that was the answer she was going to receive, Misora decided not to pry into it but continued eating the snacks outside as the night went by.

Once done with all activities, the girls decided to sleep over for the night while Rose and Ryu retired to their room. Before practicing his katas, he talked to Rose knowing that she tried to avoid Misora's question asked earlier. "Rose, I sensed that you tried to avoid Misora's question. Is it about Bison?"

Trying to think of a way to answer him, she knew that he was perceptive of her actions so lying wouldn't work. "Sorry Ryu. I guess I just don't want to be judged about my abilities or my origin."

"We had this discussion already, I highly doubt that they would judge you based on that. I know they respect your strength and your abilities. Don't think everyone is the same, everyone treats you as you are and that is as a human being. Anyways, don't think about it too much and let's get some rest." He then practiced his katas and left Rose to her thinking.

As always, she knew that he was right. What would come in thinking that everyone that talked to her would judge her? With a new resolve, she expunged all thoughts of Bison from her mind and allowed herself to be free of judgment and uneasiness. With this slumber was a new Rose free of all regret and sorrow.

* * *

Somewhere in the week, Rose discovered that Misora's household had a big bath house. When she saw it, the bath house contained a bath of tremendous size and judging by the scents lingering inside, she could pick up certain ones such as pomegranate, eucalyptus leaves and many others. Seeing that she had never been to a Japanese bath house before, she decided that seeing as she was a guest that maybe Misora and Ayane would somehow accommodate her in using their bath house. Asking the two women, they allowed her to use it for as long as she was here.

On one condition, though.

That they'd all use it together. To them, it was like a way of seeing the ladies in all of their natural form and some personal girl time.

Right now, Rose, Ayane, Misora, Kanae and Tsubaki were currently soaking in the bath themselves and to them, it was a good way to let the stress out and to relax. Especially the girls who had been training continuously almost every day under Ryu.

The steam was performing its therapeutic treatment of their faces and the rest of their skin. The warm water felt amazing, particularly to Rose who was allowing herself to soak to her heart's content and right now she was relaxing. With the girls washing themselves, Rose looked to the door that was open and was mesmerized by the bright and umbral allure of the moon. With tea and tiny pastries on the side. To them, it was truly bliss.

When Rose turned from the moon back to the other patrons in the bath, she saw them looking directly with blushes on their faces. She wondered if it was something that she did; was she violating bath house etiquette, did she have something on her body?

"Um, is something wrong?" She inquired.

"How did your breasts get so big?" Kanae asked.

Blinking to comprehend their question, she was completely caught off guard by Kanae's question but an elaboration would be needed. "Wait, what do you mean?" Rose asked.

"Rose-san, I also wonder about your chest. It just seems so perfect, I've never really seen breasts like yours before, so healthy and so firm." Ayane said.

Seeing that her attention was on her well-endowed chest, she had to laugh at herself and their transfixed looks on that part of her body. She never really questioned why they were so large. It was something that she never really thought about. It was more of something that just happened as she grew. She could see the lust of men and the envy of women who also took a look at her body.

"Well, I don't really think about them so much. I guess it just naturally happened." Was her answer.

"Do you think that our chest will be like yours one day, Rose-san?" Tsubaki asked after looking at her own chest and noticed that they weren't as big despite that she was a teenager.

"Yes, I desire a body like yours Rose-san. Do all foreigners also have breasts like yours or is it a gift you're blessed with?" Misora asked.

"Why do you want one like mine? Are you not happy with yours as it is?" Rose asked the girls in particular.

"Well, Rose-san. When I look at you, I see a women of immeasurable and bewitching beauty, your opaque and fair skin, your smooth and flowing hair. Rose-san, your body is similar to that of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. It's practically perfect." Misora stated.

Rose could see the admiration for her body in their eyes and even though she never really complimented her body or saw it as a body of work as Misora was saying. She only saw it as her body and she didn't really put too much of a measure on it seeing that she had it for so long.

She moved from her position and pulled the women together to finally speak to them and to clear their misunderstanding. "Ladies, you're giving me more credit than I deserve. Your bodies are wonderful also and I will tell you how."

She first moved to Ayane. "Ayane-san, your body is slender and your breasts are something that you shouldn't be ashamed of. I know you're happy seeing as it is with this body that caught the eye of your husband and I believe that he still loves you."

"Do you believe so?" The Sugiyama matriarch asked.

She nodded, "Yes, I know so."

She then moved to Tsubaki and rubbed her breasts making the mixed girl quietly moan. "Do not let your breasts define who you are Tsubaki-san and remember that you're still developing. Just be patient and I'm sure that you will acquire the body that your heart desires."

Tsubaki looked at her chest and smiled at Rose's words. "Thank you, Rose-san."

Now moving to Kanae, she could tell she was the most developed out of the three girls but maybe some reassurance was needed for her. "Kanae-san, you don't have much to worry about seeing as your body is developing appropriately. Just make sure that you stay healthy and I'm sure that your body will be one that you're proud of."

Hearing her words, Kanae smiled at Rose's words. "Thanks, Rose-san."

"Not a problem." She finally moved to Misora who was looking at her body from all different angles and Rose put her hands on her shoulder gaining her attention.

"Misora, you my dear are one precious girl who I see doing many things in her life which will help benefit many people in the world. With that said, your body will be one of immeasurable beauty and art for any man that desires you. Even though you desire my body, you shouldn't. Be happy about yourself and that will be all you need to succeed." She told Misora.

Even though she really did envy Rose's proportions and curves, she knew that her body would be one to attract numerous men so she felt happy to hear her words from such an older women who had experienced so much.

"Rose-san, thank you for your encouraging words to us. It will help us in the long run and allow us to become who we want to become and desire." She bowed as a form of respect to which Rose vehemently denied her to do.

"No, there's no need to bow to me. I would rather embrace you to show our closeness as women." Misora and the others also came together for a big hug together as gratitude for Rose's wisdom.

After pulling apart and going to their spots in the bath, Rose spoke once more. "Women will always feel like there is a problem with their bodies no matter how beautiful they may be. When we have a world that puts beauty to a specific standard, it creates a vacuum of problems that plants seeds into young girls wishing for things they don't have. It's up to us to help not just ourselves but other females into accepting their bodies and its flaws."

"You're right Rose-san but I've had a request for a while which might be misinterpreted in a way you might find a bit bizarre." Misora said.

"What is it?" Rose asked.

"Um, can I feel your breasts? I mean, I just want to see how the structure is. I-I mean if it's okay with you." She was flustered saying that. Hopefully, Rose wouldn't think of her strange by her request.

With a smile and her eyes closed she said, "Sure, you can. All of you can."

Proud to hear her request granted and to the surprise of the other inhabitants of the bath, they moved to her chest which had her breasts out in the open. Their fingers brushed upon the surface of the skin, they felt how soft her chest was and then eventually started poking random spots making Rose chuckle a bit at their actions. Seeing that they got a feel of her assets, they started poking her breasts making her breath rise a bit. Some minutes later, they started groping them making her stifle some moans a bit. She knew that her chest was sensitive so seeing that numerous hands were upon her bosom, it was inevitable that some sounds were going to leave her mouth at some point.

"Wow, they're really soft, it's like mochi. So big and full. These are a foreigner's breasts, it's like they're unparalleled." Misora said while still touching upon Rose's breasts.

After about five minutes of feeling upon her breasts, they eventually finished with their touching and saw Rose was flushed in the face. They wondered if they did too much so they had to make sure she was okay.

"Rose-san, are you okay? Sorry but they were just so fascinating that we couldn't help it." Ayane said sheepishly.

Looking at her reflection in the water, she could see the huge red tint on her cheeks and she assured them that it wasn't them. "Oh no, it's not your fault. My breasts are just sensitive to touch, that's it. Don't worry about it, I'm fine." She waved her hands just to emphasize that she was alright.

Believing her, they went back to relaxing in the bath until another question was brought to the surface.

"Rose-san, are you and Ryu-sensei lovers?" Kanae asked making everybody's eyes widen, especially Rose's.

"Kanae!" Tsubaki scolded her for asking such a question.

"What, I'm curious. I'm sure you've been wondering the same thing for some time also." She said and Tsubaki couldn't even respond to that seeing that she was right but she had no idea on how to voice it.

"No, no, no!" Rose said quickly. "We're not like that! He's just a traveling companion and a very good friend, that's all." She said trying not to falter at the magnitude of the question.

"Oh, okay. I just thought you were. Another question, can you do some of your fortunetelling for us? I've never seen it before." Kanae asked excitedly.

Rose was amused by how quick this girl was to switch subjects but when it came to fortunetelling, she had no problem at all answering people.

"I would be delighted to." With her soul powers, Rose formed a revolving circle of cards out of nowhere which were levitating. Even though they saw this power before, it still amazed them that someone had this kind of ability and that there were many others like her. As soon as they were done, three cards formed and they were placed face down at the edge of the bath.

"Come and see. This will be one fortune for all of you as I'm sure it will apply to all of you for the future." The ladies went over looking at the three cards face down at the moment.

"Ready?" They nodded at her awaiting what cards were about to be revealed.

Rose then flipped over the cards making each one face up. The cards were: The Sun, The Chariot and The Five of Wands.

"What do they mean, Rose-san?" Ayane wondered seeing that she never got her fortune told before.

"Well, The Sun means a successful life, The Chariot means you will be victorious in whatever you put your heart and mind to and The Five of Wands means that at times you will struggle to get what you desire. These three cards brought together mean that you will be successful but will encounter hardships and conflict but the future will reward you with success." This was the fortune and majority of the time, Rose was right with her predictions.

Even though this was their fortunetelling, the girls could refer this fortune to their current life in learning how to perform a hadoken, they had been and was still struggling to learn but in the end, it was worth it seeing that their hard work would pay off in the end.

"Okay, thank you Rose-san. I'm more motivated than before and I'll continue to do my best." Misora said with conviction.

"Same here!" Yelled Kanae.

"That goes for me also." Tsubaki joined in.

Ayane couldn't help but smile at their ambition and cheered for them believing in their efforts knowing that they had a bright future ahead of them.

"Now seeing as we're done with fortunetelling for the time being, let us return to the bath and enjoy ourselves for the moment." Rose said allowing herself to immerse in the warm water which the other women followed suit.

* * *

With only a few days left before leaving, Ryu was now watching his students spar as usual as he continued to teach them the philosophy of Ansatsuken. Sparring with them, he also realized that they improved a lot from when he first met them; their movements weren't erratic and they were able to focus more on precision than power.

As they finished up, they got ready to practice their hadoken training. Days prior, they had never gotten even close of performing it. At times, they were close but unfortunately nothing appeared in their hands and it left the girls in a sullen mood. They then remembered Rose's words and it was because of them that they didn't look at it as a failure but more of a way to learn from their mistakes and figure out what they were doing wrong.

The time to practice was here and in their heart, they knew that they could do it. Confidence, ambition and practice were the factors that would lead them in the direction. Now was the determining point of their training.

Ryu looked at the girls and he could see the confidence brimming in their eyes. Maybe they would be finally be able to perform just one hadoken. "Okay, do you think you're ready?"

"Hai, Ryu-sensei!" Their excitement could be seen radiating off of their bodies so to him, it looked like they were ready.

"Okay, you've trained up to this part and I know you've been struggling but my intuition tells me that you're finally ready. As I've shown you before, get into position, concentrate and let the ki flow into your body. Once you've accumulated the ki, release it like a force."

Taking their teacher's training, they got into position and exhaled. Concentrating all their ki into their hands, they could feel their hands getting warm and just like he said, they released the ki into the sky.

"Hadoken!" They each shot a burst of blue and white into the sky. The amount of energy surprised Ryu but he was proud to see that their efforts finally brought fruition. Shortly after the launch, the hadokens exploded creating a show of blue and white resembling the stars in the sky.

After seeing the bursts of energy dissipate, the girls stood there in awe and major disbelief of what they just witnessed. Taking a few minutes to comprehend what they just did, they stood with their mouths open and looked at Ryu waiting for his reaction.

With a grin on his face, he summed up their efforts in one word, "Congratulations! You've learned how to perform a hadoken."

Looking at the man before them, they each ran up to Ryu and gave him many words of thanks and gratitude. They cheered so loud that they were sure the whole estate could hear it even though it was so late.

"We… really did it." Misora whispered still in awe of what she just did.

"Yes, you did. How does it feel?" Ryu asked the three girls.

"I don't know. I was ready to believe that we weren't going to be able to perform this technique. Ryu-sensei, thank you so much for not giving up on us." Tsubaki said while giving Ryu another hug which he returned.

"The reason why I didn't give up in you is because I knew you had the ability to do so. In all honesty, it was really you who did it, not me. It was your efforts that made you possible to do it."

"Really? So all our previous failures helped us?" Tsubaki inquired.

"You realized your failures and you worked on them to make sure that you didn't do the same thing again. That is what the philosophy of martial arts; it's not to be the best in the world at what we do but how we are able to realize our flaws and make them our strengths which is what you have done." Ryu told them.

When they actually achieved failure, it was only a tool which would help them succeed in future. They never understood why in the beginning but in the current moment, they were never much prouder to have failed as it brought them their desired results.

"So can we practice again?!" Kanae asked with much excitement.

"Sure, whenever you're ready!"

With another stance, they pointed their palms to the sky and gathered ki into their hands once more. "Hadoken!" They yelled and once more, another three bursts of energy went into the sky. As soon as they were done, they felt something they tried ignoring the first time: fatigue.

"Wow, it's actually very tiring using that move," Misora said. "How do you prevent your body from getting tired all the time Ryu-sensei?"

"Because you're using it for the first time, you'll feel sluggish for a bit but as you get used to practicing it for a long time, it'll barely have an effect on you. Just keep practicing. Anyway, I think you've had enough practice for one day, time for you to get some rest." Ryu pulled up the girls and assisted them to the bedroom seeing as they were very tired.

Looking out the window while reading a book, Rose looked at the moon while saying to herself, "I'm proud of you three. You are the future."

The few days went by very quickly and soon Ryu found out that they could perform a hadoken much more quickly and efficient. Still training them, he taught them some of his other moves from his art of Ansatsuken such as the two moves he used on them, the shoryuken and the tatsumaki senpuukyaku. Even though the three girls knew how to perform move just by seeing them, these moves proved to be difficult for them but if they could learn how to do a hadoken, then these moves wouldn't be too much of a problem.

They day of departure was finally here. Ryu and Rose had one last breakfast at the Sugiyama estate. On Sunday, they would finally be able to travel to China. The three weeks there was a much better experience than anticipated, Niigata was a welcoming town to which they were thankful for what they saw and encountered.

The Sugiyama family, the workers and the girls stood in front of them ready to see them off. To have the whole Sugiyama estate to come together to see just two people off, it showed how much they impacted their lives in such a short time.

"Ryu-san, Rose-san. We are very grateful for your company of these past few weeks. I hope you decide to come back one day and tell us of your journey." Ayane bowed along with the workers.

"Ryu-sensei, thank you for your tutelage and your wisdom." Misora said while bowing with Kanae and Tsubaki.

"Yes, thank you for believing in us and for teaching us more of the humility we somehow abandoned along the way." Tsubaki said.

"We really hope you come back to Japan one day and continue to teach us." Kanae said.

"Thank you for having us. Rest assured, this won't be the last time you'll see me and I'll continue to keep gaining more knowledge in my quest. I hope you continue to practice and not abandon your training. Also, you promised me you wouldn't abuse your abilities, I hope you can stay true to that promise in my absence." Ryu admonished them reminding him of their promise.

"We won't Ryu-sensei. Our pride as martial artists would be wounded." Misora spoke on behalf of them.

Ayane, Misora, Kane and Tsubaki gather around Rose and hugged her. "Thank you for your wise words of beauty and acceptance which helped us to accept ourselves Rose-san, it made me more appreciative of myself than before." Tsubaki timidly said.

"Your words are so kind and such a breath of fresh air. I feel more secure about myself than I did before." Misora said while hugging onto her.

"Yes, I feel more beautiful than before and I feel that my husband and I will be more passionate once he comes back from his trip. I'm sorry you couldn't meet him." Ayane said before moving her mouth to Rose's ear to say one more thing, "Also, keep Ryu-san around. There's not many men like him out there and I know he'll protect you. Hold onto him." She whispered into her ear.

With a colored tint accredited to her name, she smiled at Ayane's words while hugging her and the others back. The memories she shared with these women were ones that she would hold dear for the rest of her life. Something told her that fate would allow them to meet again and that was something she would definitely be looking forward to.

"You're all amazing women and look towards the future. The female workers, you have the chance to pursue your own path. Do what makes you happy and brings comfort in your life. Fate will bring you to many paths in life but it's ultimately up to you to decide which path you want to take. I'm grateful for the hospitality that you've provided for me and Ryu and I'll never forget how kind you've been to us during our stay. Thank you."

"Rose-san, we'll miss you so much!" The female workers shouted while some of them were crying sad to see her go and the rest with grateful smiles on their face.

"I'll miss you too. This won't be the last time I'll ever see you. The power of fate will ensure that we meet once more." Rose told them.

"It seems your mode of transportation to the boat has come for you. I'm sure you'll be surprised but thankful at the same. Look above you," Ayane said.

Taking her advice and what they saw the both of them gasp in astonishment at what they just saw.

A helicopter with the Sugiyama's insignia was landing near the entrance of the home and it made them wonder what was going on.

"Ayane-san? What is this?" Rose asked confused by the sudden aircraft's appearance.

"It's for you and Ryu-san to get to Osaka! A lot much quicker than taking a car or a train there. It's our way of saying thanks for staying here and teaching us." Ayane said.

'Well, that's very kind of them even though we would have been fine taking a bus there.' Rose thought.

"Thank you for this, Ayane-san. I will be indebted to your kindness." Ryu told the matriarch.

She laughed at how polite he was, "Nonsense, Ryu-san! It's the least we can do for you and I'm sure you want to reach the boat and relax for a bit before you get on. So go and don't worry about repaying us."

Ayane moved in and hugged Ryu surprising him but he returned it as well. He then looked at his three students and gave them a bow which they returned as well. Another surprise was when they hugged him as well.

"Thank you, Ryu-sensei!" The three girls yelled to their temporary teacher.

"No problem and when I come back, I want to see how much you've improved. I'll probably bring some others who I've trained also. Take care of yourselves!" He said to the group.

Now stepping into the helicopter with a wave of goodbyes to the group, they flew off into the sky on their way to Osaka. They had never been in a helicopter before but as they looked through the windows, they couldn't believe the breathtaking view they had from the air. Multiple buildings and scenes of nature revealed the side of the earth that possessed beauty like no other.

An hour and a half later, they arrived in the Osaka Bay. Requesting that they let them off at this point. The two fighters got off and gave their thanks to the pilots and the Sugiyama family.

As the helicopter flew off into the sky once more back to Niigata, Rose and Ryu looked at the multiple attraction spots and they did have some time before their boat sailed. With an exploration of the city, the city was tantalizing and welcoming. Rose was surprised by the amount of people she talked to who asked her about where she was from but then again her physical features did stick out more than others.

Ryu looked at her uplifted mood by being around all these people. It brought him some joy seeing that she was happy. He wanted to see her smile more as he thought of her graceful as the sun shining upon a new day. He didn't know why but he liked seeing her happy, these feelings were strange but maybe he just liked seeing the people he cared about happy.

The evening came by and it was time for them to make their way onto the boat. As they both looked upon the pier and saw the many people coming on board, it made them think of all the people they met during they stay here in this country. It was strange for them to part this beautiful and cultured country but they told themselves they would come back one day.

The horn of the yacht they blared with a horn indicating that it was time for them to depart. To the two fighters, it was the end of one chapter and the beginning of one another. They had no idea what they would see in China but they would watch over one another as much as possible.

"Are you ready for China, Rose?" Ryu asked the fortuneteller.

"Yes. I don't know what will happen but I can say for sure that as long as you're with me, I'm sure I'll be okay. Wouldn't you say?" Rose replied with a smile.

With a nod from Ryu, both of them could only wonder what experiences awaited them in China.

* * *

Feather Drop: Trip to Colorado during spring break

Recently, I just visited the west coast of the U.S. for the first time in my life and it was pretty cool. Not to say that we didn't encounter out share of fuckery and craziness but overall it was a good trip. Me and my friends took in the freedom of sparking up as weed is legal there. Also, don't get high and try to drive just from prior experience. Not exactly me behind the wheel but it's pretty much a bad idea in general. No accidents so we were good. This trip has opened my eyes to more places for me to visit not only in the U.S. but the rest of the world. I want to visit Miami and then California at some point. I do plan on visiting Paris, all I have to do is renew my passport even though I'm really procrastinating on that for some reason.

Anyway, what places do you have in mind to visit and which places would you suggest for me to go to? Anyways, thank you for reading and I hope to keep you updated soon. Peace out.


	5. Herbal Purification of a Rose

Latest chapter here and I thank all readers that have been following this story for so far. I told myself that was I going to finish this story as I was encountering some roadblocks along the way but by putting this chapter, it's actually motivated me to keep going so that's what I'm going to do. If you feel that there's any inconsistencies within chapters, please don't be afraid to tell me in the review which I hope you do also. Constructive criticism is always needed for a writer to improve because it helps me discover what's wrong and it will influence me to improve myself so that I may provide quality stories for the FanFiction community.

Also, read and review!

"Medicine is not only a science; it is also an art. It does not consist of compounding pills and plasters; it deals with the very processes of life, which must be understood before they may be guided."-Paraclesus

"Redemption is not perfection. The redeemed must realize their imperfections."-John Piper

"I don't need anyone to rectify my existence. The most profound relationship we will ever have is the one with ourselves."-Shirley MacLaine

"We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls."-Anais Nin

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Shanghai, China.

Within a few miles lied ahead their next destination. After almost sixty hours of traveling, both Rose and Ryu could see the mainland of Shanghai within their sights. Their trip was exciting seeing that it gave them a chance to relax and just allow the stress of the world to release itself from their bodies. Rose had no problem with the trip especially as she took advantages of the big ship they were on. Packed with numerous spa facilities and relaxation centers, she couldn't help but be entranced by the several activities that would allow her to unwind.

The pool was definitely something that she had to try, she had not taken a swim ever since leaving Italy and it was nice to see a pool which would allow her to swim freely. Her body combined with the navy blue bikini that hugged her curved figure couldn't help but gain attention from both genders. Ryu could see the attention that she was receiving and he could see why she was getting it, her body was something desired by men and envied by women but it was something expected in all honesty. All in all, they enjoyed their trip.

As they and the other passengers got off the boat, they looked around to see that Shanghai was a very large and economic city. The buildings they saw reminded them of the western cities that they heard so much about. Even though this metropolis of a city was very beautiful to look at, they still were not close to their true destination.

"It's a beautiful city." Rose said to no one in particular as she gazed upon the towering structures in front of her.

Looking around the city, Ryu was now looking for anything that resembled a bus station. "It is but Shanghai isn't our destination unfortunately. We'll have to take a bus there if that's okay with you."

"I don't see why that would be a problem." The fortuneteller didn't mind.

After walking around the pier for some time, they both found a bus heading to their destination. With a quick purchase of tickets for the both of them, they began their journey to southern China. They crossed many provinces and regions. The landscape looked no different from the countryside of Japan except that it was much more spacious. It would have to be seeing as it is home to over a billion people.

The bus ride was proven to be relaxing to them. They were two foreigners in a bus full of native Chinese citizens so they felt out of place at first but they then remembered that there were other foreigners besides them who were here for reasons such as business and vacations. After 4 hours of traveling, they found themselves in the city that was their current location.

The city of Taizhou, China.

Looking at the city, it was smaller than Shanghai but it was still a rather large city that held so many people. It was afternoon by the time they arrived so the city was still busy with many people on the roads and sidewalks.

Even though Ryu knew that he would've gotten lost in the sea of people. He at least knew where to go from where he had gotten off. The person he was meeting had given him instructions earlier seeing that they anticipated Ryu would not be able to navigate his way through the plethora of people that circulated the streets of Taizhou every day.

"Taizhou is where we're supposed to be but seeing as it's separated into several districts. Our destination is Sanmen, a county somewhere in the northern part of Taizhou. Rose, would you like to rest for a bit before we leave?" He asked the woman beside him.

"I believe if we leave now, we'll be able to get to our destination quicker." She answered with a smile.

"Alright, let's find a bus seeing as one will probably be leaving soon."

After getting some food, they found themselves on yet another bus. Even though they were going up north, their next stop wouldn't be too far seeing as it was a part of Taizhou. On the road they couldn't help but look through the windows as they saw many stores and restaurants that paved the sidewalks. During the duration of the ride, they both peeked out the windows and looked at the many stores, restaurants, houses and other buildings along the way. Taking a look, they saw fresh produce and ingredients picked by some of the merchants. They couldn't help but take in how beautiful China was and it was only their first day there. Just like Japan, it possessed its own distinctive beauty and allure.

It wasn't exactly nighttime yet but the skies were getting darker. Just ahead of them was the Sanmen county and it looked like a small place compared to the central metropolitan area they were in earlier. Halting to a stop, they got off the bus and surveyed the area and realized that some of the area was influenced by industrialization while some were unaffected by it at all. Most likely there were some citizens that opposed the impact of it as it could alter their culture and livelihood but situations like that weren't uncommon as it happened in many parts of the world.

The smell of oxygen, asphalt and gasoline from the numerous buses in the area told them that it was finally time for them to leave. Now that they were outside of the bus station, they paid attention to the appearance of the sky. It was still evening so it wasn't entirely late so they still had time to get to where Ryu's acquaintance was.

He took out a map of the area that he picked up from earlier. "We should be at our destination in less than an hour, it's a medicine shop called 'The Resting Crane' Ready?"

"Do you know how to get there?" Rose asked.

"In all honesty, no I don't. I'll need to ask someone for directions seeing as I'm not familiar with this part of China. I'll be right back." Ryu then walked off trying to find someone to ask for directions to this shop.

Now watching him walk off, Rose thought about Japan and the words she received from Ryu during their stay at Misora's house. Now that she thought about it, he was starting to become a beacon that she needed and it brought her some joy seeing that he did care about her to an extent. During her train of thought, she actually let out a few coughs and she knew that she wasn't well as soon as she stepped in Shanghai. She kept it from Ryu as she didn't want him to worry over her health thinking it would pass during the trip. That wasn't the case as she could feel her body turning against her but she tried her best to keep up with Ryu.

She looked at Ryu coming back and she got herself situated to make sure that she could continue her façade.

"I found someone who gave me some directions. They said from here, it should take between 30-40 minutes before we reach the shop. Shall we be on our way?" He asked stretching his hand out for her to take.

Taking his hand, she followed the Shotokan practitioner to the shop. As expected due to her slight fever, she walked a bit slowly but not enough to deter them from their walk to their destination.

In a random alley, they saw the shop still open which meant that they were still open for the moment. Entering the alley, they saw the shop and it was a moderate-sized one filled with different herbs and various bottles used to treat many ailments.

Entering the shop with a ring of the bell, they looked at the counter to see that no one was there.

"Hello! Is anyone here?" Ryu yelled hoping his voice would gain the attention of at least one of the shop's attendants.

"In the back and don't touch anything!" A voice yelled from the back and it sounded like an old man judging by the tone of voice.

Looking towards a door that looked like it led to some sort of backyard, Rose and Ryu began to follow the voice to the back and to their surprise, they discovered a large garden with many plants and herbs used for remedies. Rows of ginseng, rhubarb, mushrooms, and other plants could be seen that took up the area of the plot of land where all these medicinal ingredients could be found.

"Are you just going to stand over there or move?" The two fighters could hear that same voice except it was much clearer this time. Ryu grinned knowing whose voice it was and he nodded over to Rose to follow him.

Approaching a large gazebo where the voice could be heard, they discovered the person who was shouting at them and Ryu bowed in respect to the person before him.

"Hey, Master Gen. Sorry it took longer to get here but we were assisting some young girls in Japan." Ryu couldn't help but look at the old man as he sipped his tea while sitting down in his gazebo.

"Excuses, excuses! You should know that time is of the essence and that it waits for no one, fool!" The former assassin stood up and saw the woman behind Ryu trying to figure out who she was. "And who exactly are you?"

"Ah, that is-" Ryu was interrupted as Gen went behind him and looked Rose in the eyes before speaking.

"Silence, this woman has a mouth and I'd rather hear her name from her mouth instead of you. Unless you're telling me that she's mute or has some sort of vocal impediment? Anyway, who are you?" Gen looked into Rose's violet eyes and it was like he was staring into more than her soul, it was like he was looking into her whole being. She didn't know why she felt this ominous and cryptic energy from this man but she answered him.

"My name is Rose. I'm a fortuneteller from Italy and I'm currently traveling with Ryu at the moment." She looked into his eyes while he continued to stare into hers.

Stroking his beard, he looked at the woman for a few more minutes while Ryu stayed quiet. He could see the intense look from eyes staring at her. He decided not to say anything thinking that he would eventually be done.

"Don't move." He said quietly.

Before Rose could reply to his statement, Gen with lightning speed struck her shoulders, and the back of her head making Ryu stare in shock at what he just witnessed.

Before Rose could say anything, she fell down to her knees violently coughing. Her eyes were teary, her head was now throbbing and her body was now starting to warm up.

Ryu dropped his duffel bag and headed over to the woman to figure out what was wrong with her. He put his hand on her forehead and he could feel her head warming up and he knew exactly what was going on.

Rose was having a fever.

He turned to the Gen who began walking to his garden while Ryu asked, "Master Gen, what did you do to Rose? Why is she coughing all of a sudden after you touched her?"

Turning around to Ryu's face, he saw the confusion and frustration on the man's face as he stayed by the side of his companion. He sighed knowing that he should at least let him know the reason behind his actions.

"In case you haven't realized during your way over here, that woman was sick before even reaching here." Figuring out that his answer would at least suffice, he continued his walk back looking at the many pests flying about in his garden.

Ryu stood confused as he watched Rose continue coughing and her body temperature steadily increasing. "Wait, what do you mean 'sick'? She was perfectly healthy on the way here."

"Idiot! Do you think people can't suppress illnesses or sicknesses for prolonged periods of time? She was sick before reaching this place! The only reason why she now started showing the symptoms is because I forced them out of her." He was now swatting the pests away with his fans before speaking once more, "It was her decision to not tell you that she was feeling ill. Why she's sick is something that you'll have to ask her."

Putting all his attention on Rose, he helped the fortuneteller get up as she finally finished coughing but he could still feel her body still warm with her body still flushed. "Rose, are you okay?"

"No, I need some rest." She was coughing again and was trying to get up but was Ryu kept her seated to make sure that she didn't put any more stress on her body.

"Rose, why didn't you tell me you wasn't feeling well?" Ryu inquired. "When did it start?"

"I didn't want you to worry about me. I believed it started during our last day on the boat; I assumed it would pass during our trip here but unfortunately I was wrong."

'She probably stressed herself too much,' Ryu then began rubbing her back hoping that would at least lessen her stress.

"If she's going to get better, you're going to have to let her rest for a few days," Gen said as he finished tending to his garden. "Let's go. I'm about to close up for the night."

Deciding to take Gen's advice, Ryu helped Rose up while he followed Gen to his home after he finished closing his shop. Only walking for a few blocks, they reached his home where Ryu immediately set Rose down in a chair as she was clearly in no condition to even stand.

Once she was situated, Ryu looked around Gen's home and he expected his home exactly how he imagined it: it was a small, quaint home in which he saw the living room, bathroom, kitchen, and a small bedroom.

"Give me a few minutes to make some tea, she needs fluids and rest. Keep an eye on her and make sure her condition doesn't worsen." With a swift turn, Gen proceeded to the kitchen to prepare some herbal tea for Rose.

With his eyes kept on Rose, he realized that there were many reasons on why she was now sick. Stressing herself over her existence, Shadaloo's presence in the world, her powers not fully working properly. So many things accumulated to her stress and he couldn't believe that he was oblivious to her state of being.

Now that she was ill, the most he could do was watch her slowly recover from her fever naturally. Shaking his head, Ryu began rubbing Rose's hand trying to aid in some way to at least make her feel comfortable. With a slight opening of her eyes, Rose smiled and silently thanked him for trying to provide some comfort for her. To her, it was sweet and endearing to see someone care for her like this.

Shortly after he left for the kitchen, Gen returned with a steaming teapot and porcelain cup on a tray. "This here is ginger tea. It possesses many properties such as a combatant against fevers and the flu. Ryu, help her sit up." Ryu obeyed Gen's words and helped Rose sit up. Gen then poured some of the ginger tea into the cup and gave it to Rose for her to drink, "Drink and make sure that you don't spread your illness to us, there's no need for all of us to get sick."

Rose slowly nodded and took the tea from Gen. Looking into the cup, she could see her reflection and she could clearly see that her distorted and flushed face looked different from the usual composed visage she had. She couldn't believe that her stress and her internal conflicts had accrued to her current state. Not trying to question the reason why she was ill, her primary focus was her recovery. Now sipping the tea, she didn't feel any different from before but she did hear that more fluids and rest would help in recovery. Putting the tea down, Rose felt her body descend to the couch she was resting on.

Ryu tended to Rose until Gen's voice spoke up.

"Leave her be and let her rest for now. If she's going to recover quickly, then she needs no interruptions and you keeping her up won't help. Besides, I need to speak with you." Opening a door to a back porch, Gen stepped outside breathing in the nocturnal air while stroking his beard.

He was a bit hesitant in leaving until he heard Rose's voice, "Ryu, I'll be okay. Do not fret over me. I will be fine."

"Rose, are you sure?" He whispered.

Rose simply nodded and closed her eyes. A smile appeared on her face as she began resting leaving Ryu and Gen for now. Taking her word, he went outside and met with Gen while he looked at the dancing fireflies present in his garden.

"They say that the flashes of the fireflies are a courtship ritual. The male fireflies flashes their lights as they try to attract a female so that they can breed. The flashes are initially used to bring them together but as a male and female get together, the flashes are no longer needed. I say the same thing is applied to us as men, all these materials and aesthetics used to bring women to us only for us to be disappointed in the end. It's truly sad but that is the allure and wonderment of life and nature seeing as they go hand in hand. It's part of the reason why I refuse to die, when there's so much life has to give."

Gen dug into his pants pocket and pulled out a small smoking pipe. The pipe was black and silver in color with a narrow mouthpiece. He then pulled out a little bag of tobacco and put it in the pipe. On a desk was a row of matchsticks, he took one and lit it up putting it to the pipe. The now burning tobacco was inhaled by the master assassin and exhaled from his mouth. He then took another puff and inhaled it as he now looked to Ryu.

"That woman is not exactly normal. Who is she?" Gen suddenly asked.

"Just a good friend of mine, Master Gen." Ryu answered.

"I don't know who else you've been fooling with that answer but I'm not naïve. Now once more I'll ask and give me a concise answer this time, who is she?"

With the wisdom this man possessed, Ryu should have known that he would not be easily fooled so he decided to tell him. "She...used to be part of Bison. It's very confusing to me."

"You mean to tell me that she comes from that malignant and pompous megalomaniac?! Huh, well I shouldn't be surprised as I've seen many questionable things with my own eyes as long as I've been on this earth. Explain how she even came to be because I do remember spotting her at that tournament."

"She told me that Bison needed all goodwill erased from his body to become the person he came to be today. That goodwill formed Rose and she has been questioning her existence ever since she found out. It's been challenging for her and to see her in her current state makes me even more furious at him." Ryu growled.

"This world possesses a lot of wickedness and sometimes it's out of our control of what happens. I am a product of that wickedness. My life has been shrouded in the stench of destruction and malice that I eagerly await the silent entwining of death so that I can answer for my evils. It's challenging for one to look at life if you've experienced it the way that I have. That woman questions her existence and it's normal for her to do so. We all have many questions for things others consider mundane and pointless but one truth is true for all of us no matter how long all of us live: We begin dying the moment we are born. There is no escaping this truth." With a slow exhale of his tobacco, Gen looked to the fireflies that were still dancing.

Ryu could understand why Gen looked at the world so jaded and despairingly. This was a man who was known in the Asian underground as a man who had killed hundreds if not thousands. This was a man who was haunted by the many people who had fallen to his feet. As the world went on ready to bring new life, he was constantly wondering when his was going to come to an end. Tortured by the past and with his illness affecting him, Gen gladly awaited when the angel of death would come and shed whatever mercy it had for him.

"It's getting late. Are you going to sleep now?" Gen asked as he put his pipe away.

"I think I'll stay with Rose for a bit. For now, I'll stay outside for some air." Gen stepped inside leaving Ryu alone. Ryu looked towards the fireflies while sighing. Rose was sick and he couldn't do much but to hope for her to get better soon. He was confident in Gen's knowledge of medicine so he would just leave it to him to determine when she fully recovered.

Ryu couldn't help but stare at Rose's face as she peacefully slept. He didn't know why but the way she looked made her look like a goddess in his opinion. She held this air of elegance, beauty and other words that could be accredited to her mysterious demeanor. Seeing her in this state made him frustrated but it was best to just leave it to time and let her rest for now.

Instead of finding a bed, Ryu decided to just take a seat next to Rose and rest for the night.

Something smelled pleasant. Very pleasant. Rose woke up to this smell and she couldn't help but let her olfactory senses be triggered by this food that was being cooked. Looking at the time, she saw that she woke up very early in fact.

Seven in the morning matter of fact.

It wasn't that she was against waking up at these early times but she favored sleep a lot more as it was very vital in determining how she would function in the day. Her mind went back to yesterday before she went to sleep. She could remember Ryu soothing her by rubbing her hand as she slept. Feeling his strong and rough hands upon the delicate smoothness of her skin put her into a sense of fulfillment as she couldn't help but be elated by how caring he was for her. Before she realized it, a blush appeared on her face and she looked for Ryu and found him resting in a chair. A smile appeared on her face as her friend was still sleeping, she figured he was watching over her last night as she slept but unfortunately neglected to get much rest for himself.

Getting up, she could still feel the effects of her fever affecting her physiology but not enough that she couldn't get up. Looking over to Ryu, she could see the rugged yet peaceful face as he just slept through the smell of whatever food was being cooked at the moment. Getting a blanket, she laid it across his body. Seeing that some of his cheek was exposed, she felt spontaneous at the moment.

Moving her forward, she put her lips on Ryu's cheek. Moving away quickly, she had a very visible blush on her face and covered her mouth with her hands.

'I don't know what came over me but I don't regret it. Thank you for looking over me Ryu.' She was still in awe that she just kissed him on his cheek but she actually liked it. More like she really enjoyed it.

"It seems that you're better now than yesterday considering you're doing that." Rose turned around to the voice and was surprised to see Gen standing right behind her.

How he even got behind her, she didn't even know. Normally she would be able to sense when anybody appeared with their soul energy. This man was something else and she also remembered that he was the one that brought out her fever leaving her in the state that she was in yesterday.

"You're the one that brought out my fever. I feel I should thank you even though it did cause me to be bedridden."

"Your illness was nothing that I couldn't discover because you are not the first one to do what you did. Either way, you're still not fully well as you know just as much as I do. Anyway, follow me to the kitchen." Gen then went into his kitchen while Rose just stared at Ryu.

"What about Ryu?" She asked.

"Bah, he'll be out for an extra hour or two. He was practically watching you like a hawk last night making sure your condition didn't worsen. Leave him be." The assassin said while putting the last preparations on the morning dish he was preparing.

Proud to hear that he stayed with her last night, she couldn't help but smile at Ryu's sleeping form. Moving to the kitchen, she found cupboards full of medicinal herbs, supplements, spices and other health-oriented products in plain sight.

Gen handed her a porcelain bowl that contained a soup of some sorts. "This is congee, it should be able to help with your fever."

Judging by its viscous appearance, it appeared as a sort of porridge or oatmeal. The contents had many items including carrots, chicken, leeks, Chinese lettuce, and other ingredients. Not sure whether or not to eat it, she inhaled the aroma coming from the bowl. Once she inhaled it, she noticed that the aroma coming from the congee was the same one that had woken her up just a few minutes ago.

Aware that the food smelled this good, she had gotten herself a spoon and took a bite from the bowl. Her pupils widened at how delectable and tasty this food was. Rose never had congee in her life so her first experience was something to be cherished and judging by her taste, it left a good impression on her.

"Wow, this is very good. You really made this?" Rose asked.

"Please, you seem to underestimate me child. I have a restaurant that I'm currently letting a friend of mine run seeing as I'm busy here selling medicine. That congee also has ginger inside; the same ingredient in the tea that you had last night."

Returning to his kitchen, Gen came out with a pot of tea and some dumplings as that would be his breakfast for now.

Rose looked at him while he began eating the little dumplings and asked, "You're not going to eat any of this soup you've prepared?"

"I only made it for you to eat. Seeing as I'm not the one that's ill, I see no reason in eating it at the moment." He then continued eating his breakfast as Rose just enjoyed the congee.

Done with the congee, Rose checked to see Ryu still sleeping. His sun-kissed face amused her and brought some sort of joy onto her face. Taking a peek outside she observed the sunny weather so she figured some fresh air would do her some good. Stepping outside, she could see the sun dawning in the quiet neighborhood while she took in some of the ultraviolet rays herself.

The neighborhood was a sight to look at, it was calm and very peaceful and it reminded her of Genoa. Speaking of her hometown, she pondered how the people were living seeing as she was gone for some time now. Even if she didn't want to believe it, she was part of why the town was so popular seeing as many people went to her to get their fortune read every week.

Releasing a cough from the depths of her throat, she knew that she was still sick. Even though it wasn't as intense as it was last night, she knew that it was best for her to not push herself lest she make her condition worse than yesterday.

"As expected, you're still sick and to add to it, this is the pollen season so if you're allergic to anything out here in this backyard, I suggest you go back inside." Gen spoke while standing in the backyard's door.

Gen now looked outside, he could see the little children walking to wherever they went for school and others going to work. Luckily, he didn't have to see many people as he was never a fan of big crowds which was amazingly ironic seeing as in his career he took down many people who stepped to him in big groups.

The youth of the children, adolescents and young adults reminded him that his time on earth was very limited and that he could only be in this earthly plane for so long and his sickness also had an effect on that. These were facts that resonated within his very being every day and he would not run away it from it. It wasn't like he could anyway. He made a creed to live by regardless if he was sick, disabled or impaired and he hoped the fellow generations would follow.

Enjoy the drink of life every day because one day it will be empty.

In silence, the two fighters stared into the streets steadily watching everyone. Even though Gen would normally just stay silent while he looked into the street, right now he had guests in his home and that was something he seldom ever looked forward to. He felt like it was time to speak to the fortuneteller that was now traveling with Ryu for some time.

"So, you're Ryu's traveling companion? To be honest, I'd expect Chun-Li to be the one to follow him everywhere but unfortunately that's not the case," Rose didn't know why but she felt some sort of irritancy when she heard that, it wasn't that she had anything against the Interpol agent seeing that she did talk to her before and found her very friendly but right now she was downright irritated hearing that coming from Gen's mouth.

"Anyway, who he allows to follow him is none of my concern but he did tell me some interesting things about you."

"And that is?" She questioned and readied to defend herself if she was about to be judged.

Gen chuckled at Rose seeing her on guard. "Do not torment yourself trying to defend against me. I have no reason to judge one's past as I've also had parts of my life questioned by many people and it's only something I can live with seeing as they were choices I made on my own."

Lowering her stance, Rose used her soul power to look at Gen's aura. What she saw perturbed her as Gen's aura was a shade of pitch-black surrounding his body. This darkness was so enveloping that she would think it would be deadly and tried to figure out how exactly he was still here alive today.

Just who exactly was this man before her?

"I know of your powers to foretell of the future, to look into one's heart and soul. I want you to tell me what you see." Gen asked.

Rose was surprised at his request but she did remember that she was a fortuneteller so she did.

"I see a soul tainted by the allure of malice and darkness. An aura of pitch-black trying to find the answers to why you have such a negative and cynical view of the world. I also see many deceased spirits haunting you while seeking vengeance upon you because of your transgressions against them."

Gen couldn't help but form a grin on his face. "Hmm, it is amazing how very accurate you are about me," Gen started stroking his beard before speaking once more, "but even though I've left my past behind, the stench of it clings onto me like a babe suckling on the teat of its mother. I cannot change it and I don't regret it whatsoever. The most I can do is welcome death and its non-discriminant mercy."

"Do you have a desire to die?" Rose questioned.

"I don't call it a desire. I would say it's more of an embrace that is inevitable to not just me but everyone in this earthly plane."

"What do you think it means to exist?" Rose stood looking at the rising sun while asking the former assassin.

"Exist? Dear child, we are just a speck in this macrocosm of a universe where other forms of life haven't been discovered. We are not the only ones to exist. We are more than flesh and bone, we exist purely because we can. We may have been put here to fulfill some sort of 'purpose' but majority of the time we tend to choose our own paths which lead to a form of contentment. If you're satisfied with the way your life has followed up till now, then you will be fully content but if you feel that you've been wronged or found any false meaning, then it would make sense why anyone would question their personal being."

"I suppose you're right about that. I guess it's been because I've been so discouraged but Ryu has been doing his best to make sure that I'm not as pessimistic as I used to be."

"So Ryu told me about you. I would have never thought you would come from a man of such wickedness and callousness. But as I said before, it's not my place to judge you on your past or who you are seeing as I've had a grim and desolate life myself. The best thing to do is to not let the past define you as you move onward. That is the only advice I can give you in case you ever do ask for it."

Even though his aura was one that screamed of negativity and mistrust, Rose could tell that Gen still had something even though he didn't bring it up.

A heart.

Yes, he had many faults just like any other person living but it was part of who he was. His view could be depressing for others to hear, it most definitely was for Chun-Li seeing that he did look to her like a father figure. If there was one thing that Rose could find admirable, it was that he had no problem expressing himself and that he owned up to his sins and embraced anything that life threw at him.

"Thank you, Gen. Your words help with the rumblings within myself and help put me at ease." Rose couldn't help but give words of gratitude to the man who had helped her with fever.

Gen stayed quiet and even though he didn't say anything, Rose took his silence as him saying "you're welcome". The two then decided to take a leisurely stroll in his garden. Rose couldn't help but be awed by the luscious leaves in his backyard. To her, they were beautiful and what made them even more beautiful was what a majority of the leaves purposes were.

"You have an amazing garden here. Is it just you who takes care of them?" Rose wondered while gently touching a cinnamon plant.

"Of course, no one around here knows more about medicinal herbs than I do," he inhaled the aroma of the plants making sure they were ripe and fertilized. "And of course I do it myself, these little imps with their wanting to help me but they don't know that I have the tenacity of a 25 year-old. To add to that, I'm sick so they can keep their help. Besides, I don't need to see my garden in a disarray of ignorance."

Looking at the many herbs laid across the yard, Rose decided to ask Gen something. "Gen, can you teach me about the herbs you have growing here?"

He raised his eye at the fortuneteller upon hearing her request. "And what exactly interests you about these plants and herbs?"

"Because of your knowledge of medicinal herbs, I've been able to recover a bit of my strength from my illness. Also, I can help the children and elderly back in my home seeing as some of them have no alternative or access to proper healthcare. Please, can you teach me?" She looked him in the eye for a while awaiting his answer.

With a stroke of his beard, he decided his answer. "All right, we'll start now. I won't repeat myself so you better stay focused."

Glad that he agreed to her request, he led her through his garden showing the many herbs that he used for treating ailments. A variety of mushrooms, fruits, weeds and roots including the ginger root which she drank from last night.

Rose was amazed by Gen's knowledge of medicine and the many purposes some of the herbs had outside of just medicine. He told her how he was able to learn so many treatments for so many symptoms and diseases. During his time as an assassin, he would be exposed to many poisons, injuries and sicknesses which would affect his performance during missions. As a way to stop these things from hindering, he studied Chinese medicine and other treatments found from all over the world. Discovering that he could help his community, he opened up a shop and left his restaurant to his friend while he stayed in Taizhou. To him, it was a good decision seeing that compared to his life in Beijing, it was much quieter here since he was never a fan of big crowds.

Ryu could feel the intensity of the sun's rays beaming upon his closed eyes. With a squint of his eyes, Ryu rubbed his eyes trying to gain some clarity from how much of the astronomical star had woken him up. Coming to, he realized that he was asleep for some time.

For how long? That he didn't know.

After stretching his limbs, Ryu looked immediately at the couch where Rose was resting last night that was now vacant.

"Rose?" Seeing the empty spot pushed him to get up and find out where she went. Seeing as she was ill, she probably didn't walk far.

Maybe Gen knew where she went. Speaking of Gen, he was surprised that he couldn't find him also in his own home. Ryu looked at all rooms and found out that no one was here and that he was alone.

He immediately wondered where they went until he heard a faint sound coming from the back. He went back to the living room and looked through the transparent doors to the backyard to see Rose and Gen having a conversation. Knowing that nothing bizarre had happened, he opened the door to the backyard to alert the two fighters that he had woken up.

"Good morning, Rose and to you also Master Gen," he notified the two who had looked up to where he was standing.

"Good morning to you, Ryu." Rose couldn't help but smile at him knowing that he stayed by her side last night.

Gen noticed this but decided not to say anything about it but to instead just greet Ryu. "Well, it took you long enough to get up. I was wondering if I had to use a bucket of cold water to wake you up but anyway, good morning to you."

"Well, I was up for some time last night." He then walked over to where they were standing and noticed Rose's change of health from last night which he had to acknowledge. "Rose, you seem much better than last night. Have you fully recovered?"

"No, but Gen has been helping me with my recovery. He's also taught me about some of the plants and herbs used in medicine, it's amazing how helpful they are against common sicknesses and ailments." She continued walking through the garden as Gen educated her about the rest of the other herbs present.

Ryu was proud to see her doing better than yesterday; the smile on her face was something that he liked seeing more than Rose under some sort of sickness. The expression that she gave off when she was looking at the herbs held a sort of radiance and joy. Even though Ryu was captivated by her smile, she was finally getting better and that was more important than anything right now.

"Where exactly can I get some of these herbs from? I need to bring some back to my country to help the underprivileged." The amount of knowledge she learned from Gen was something she wanted to utilize for the people back in Genoa. She was hoping that there could be a way to get some of these plants from China to Italy.

"Even if you do know what these herbs are, you have no knowledge on how to prepare them for distribution. An extra milligram more could cause adverse or even fatal effects for someone who doesn't know how to take proper dosage or how much to consume. Besides, this country is very rigorous when it comes to horticulture-related products being exported outside to foreign entities." Gen explained to Rose.

"Your teachings about Chinese medicine has done enough for me and I know that I will find a way to get these herbs." Rose was determined to help the people in her hometown. To her, if no one was going to offer any help than she could at least try to do so herself.

Gen stroked his beard as he grinned at the fortuneteller's persistence. "Well, I wouldn't say it's impossible but I could make some arrangements to get some of the seeds so that you may be able to cultivate the herbs and learn how to prepare the medicine needed to treat the people in your hometown," he then looked towards Ryu and pointed at him. "Now, I know that you didn't come all the way out here to eat jiaozi and drink tea so what are you here for?"

Ryu couldn't help but grin at Gen. The man's perception was usually on point so he enlightened him.

"Master Gen, do you have any clues on where Akuma has gone to?" If Ryu knew someone who had an idea of where any fighter was located, it was Gen.

Hard in thought, he clearly knew the man Ryu was searching for. Having fought the man long ago while still sick, he could surely say that his fight against this man was nothing like he had ever fought before. As a man known to carry the burden of death around him, he knew exactly what his moves held while facing him and his fists were meant for ending lives with no prejudice.

To Gen, it was a fight that made his blood boil and he embraced that coursing adrenaline inside his veins during the time. If only he was able to relive that moment, he would honestly allow death to come to him with no prejudice whatsoever. Maybe, just maybe he would allow such joy into his life before he have to forfeit his life.

"If I could, I would love to find him myself but I have no idea where he is. Why do you need to search for him so badly?" Gen knew Akuma's movement was sporadic so he knew that there was no locked position on where he was. This was a man who trained at the very bottom of the ocean for hours just to combat against the forces of nature and to defy death just like he did.

"I have questions that I believe he has the answers to. His presence is with me no matter where I go and this… other presence within me that seeks violence and destruction is affecting me." Ryu clenched his fist while thinking about what happened in Niigata.

In all honesty, Gen knew about his internal struggles with the Satsui no Hadō and understood why he had to seek out Akuma seeing as he was one that had embraced it himself. Sometimes he even wondered how so many people allowed themselves to be corrupted by malice and power so much but coming from the world he was involved in, he was very used to it seeing as some of the people he killed had been heavily influenced by power and money.

"Well, I could keep a lookout but no promises. So what will you do for the time being?" Gen asked the two.

"Well, we were hoping to go to southern China to cross into India." Ryu answered.

Gen rose one of his white eyebrows staring at them. "What?! You step into another country while she's still sick? Not under my watch!" Gen exclaimed.

The two were surprised by Gen's outburst until Rose asked, "Wait, why not? I feel better than yesterday. I'm sure after some fluids and rest I'll fully recover."

"You have no idea how such a simple thing as a cold can start an unprecedented epidemic so you'll be here recovering for the time being until I deem you're fit? Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Master Gen." Ryu knew there was no reason to defy the old assassin as he was still concerned about Rose's health.

"Besides, for Rose it will probably benefit her seeing as I can teach her about the medicinal properties of the herbs around here and how to prepare them for distribution," he looked at Ryu and stared deep into his eyes before speaking, "and you, instead of training like you usually do all the time, you will be working in my shop for the time being until she has fully recovered."

Ryu wholeheartedly agreed with Gen's suggestion to stay in Taizhou until Rose was better. Besides, he was open to learning about Chinese medicine seeing as it has helped him back in the past whenever he felt that he had overexerted himself during his training. In addition to that, he would able to see how Rose would utilize her new knowledge of medical treatment and he'd make sure that she was on the road to recovery as well.

"If you're done standing there, it's time to open up my shop." Gen was now heading to his store while Ryu and Rose was now walking behind him.

Gen looked at the two fighters freely talking behind him and he could easily see that they enjoyed each other's company, it reminded him of the many women he courted while he was younger but that was the past. Rose was definitely different from Bison in character and appearance but he knew appearances could be deceiving. The mention of Akuma made Gen think about what could happen if they were to meet right now, would he challenge him again? He hoped that Ryu wasn't going to put Rose in any danger, he had no idea if she was dragged into this conflict.

Right now the world was moving forward one second at a time, one day closer to his inevitable death.

He decided not to focus on that as he had a fortuneteller to teach about Chinese medicine and to help recover.

Times like this is why Gen found the little nuances of life interesting.

* * *

Feather Drop: Summer's finally here!  
Summer's here and I'm trying to take advantage of every day possible. A new restaurant, a new place to explore, people to meet, buying some new clothes for my wardrobe and more importantly make money which will be on the way soon. For now, I'm just going to finish up this chemistry class in my school so I can do organic and get that out of the way. Also, with a research opportunity on the way, I'm definitely looking forward in what the rest of this year has in store for me.


	6. Dawn of Sunflowers and Hydrangeas

Well, it's the sixth chapter for this story and it took forever to type and finally post it up. Went through a lot of bullshit in real life just to make sure that this chapter was fine and that it was detailed enough to make some sense. This is a long chapter and I know people have been asking if this story is alive and I can assure with confidence that it is. I just took longer than I should have when I should have uploaded it since last year November. I thank the followers that have followed this story since I first posted it, you guys are the best. Anyways, enjoy the chapter and review it as always and tell me what you think, Seriously, tell me what you think. Seeing as there's a few more weeks in the semester, I should have chapter seven done by June and I'll be more consistent with it. I also have other oneshots in the works so look out for those too. Thank you for being patient with me, it's truly appreciated.

We all become great explorers during our first few days in a new city, or a new love affair.- Mignon McLaughlin

Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.- Helen Keller

Learning never exhausts the mind.- Leonardo da Vinci

Life is the flower for which love is the honey.- Victor Hugo

A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, and man cannot live without love.- Max Muller

* * *

**Chapter 6**

The days went by fairly quickly for Rose and Ryu. They had learned a lot about Chinese herbal medicine and were now ready to leave to head to the south of China. Rose had finally recovered from her fever and somehow she looked even much better than before she had even gotten sick. The numerous herbal and bitter medicines (which she found hard to consume at times) brought her back to a full recovery which was definitely a much needed thing seeing as they had more places to travel to.

After two and a half weeks of learning about Chinese medicine, it was time for Rose and Ryu to move onto the next part of their travels.

"Thank you for your hospitability, Master Gen." Ryu bowed to the legendary assassin.

"Well, it was nice not to lift my hands up for a while but alas, all good things must come to an end." Gen said while stroking his beard.

The time at Gen's residence had given the two traveling fighters a break from anything involving fighting whatsoever. They surrounded themselves with the ambient allure of nature as their focus; Rose was learning about Chinese herbal cultivation from Gen during their time as guests while Ryu was rooting out all different plants and herbs that had many purposes. Rose's sickness had passed thanks to Gen's tutelage and his involvement in making sure she didn't overexert herself while teaching her about medicine. The time passed by quickly and their focus was where their next destination would be. This experience would be something they would cherish and keep in their memories forever.

"Thank you for teaching me about Chinese herbal medicine, Master Gen." Rose said in an appreciative tone. She was very grateful to Gen for healing her and teaching her the basics of herbal medicine and he would leave it to her to expand her knowledge to help the ones less fortunate.

"Well, one must find a way to survive in the chaos in this god-forsaken world. I hope that the knowledge will be properly applied to whatever plans you have for the people you plan to help," Gen went and put a finger repeatedly tapping Rose's forehead. "Also, use this to remember about proper dosages and the right herbs to be used when making medicine. I don't want you calling me that someone died because of your negligence. Got that?"

"Yes, Master Gen." Rose replied.

"Okay. Now where exactly is the next place that you're heading to? I'm sure that you have a place already in mind?" Gen questioned.

Ryu knew who exactly to meet next so he decided to answer the former assassin's question. "We'll be heading south. There's someone around there who I believe can help me."

Gen closed his eyes and decided not to ask any more questions, it was best to leave it to the two fighters to figure out what to do.

"Well, as long as you know what you're doing, that's all I can ask for. Anyway, off you go!" Gen decided to shoo them off. He didn't want to see them anymore as they already made this farewell longer than it should have been.

Ryu couldn't help but sport a smile on his face at Gen telling them to leave. The young warrior understood where he was coming from as time was going by and they had somewhere to go themselves.

"Alright, thank you Master Gen for your hospitality. I hope to meet with you again." Ryu clenched his fist to indicate that they would cross paths once more, maybe under different circumstances if possible.

"I also thank you Master Gen, for teaching me during the time we stayed at your home but more importantly for not judging me." Rose was thankful for Gen not saying she was just like Bison.

"You had no choice about that, that's not your fault. Sometimes, that's just the way life works, we're never fully in control of anything much less you so don't think about it too much; it's one of the reasons you got sick in the first place. Also, do you have that book I gave you?"

"Oh, yes," Rose rummaged through a bag and brought out a medium-sized green book with herbs and different plants on the front cover. "This book, right?"

"Yes, read everything and I mean **everything**. It will help you in understanding which plants can be used to treat or cure certain ailments. That's everything I have to say, now you can go." Gen was eager in seeing them leave.

"Well, thank you Master Gen." Ryu said with a bow. Rose bowed her head and shook Gen's hand. The pair waved him goodbye and began walking towards the bus station, thankful that he knew where to go.

As Gen saw the two fighters walk away, he saw the looks they gave each other. It was very obvious that something was blossoming between the two of them. The day that Rose woke up from her sickness, her actions that morning couldn't make it more obvious to him. To an unfortunate person like Rose, maybe this was something she needed.

A foundation.

Ryu was that foundation, unprecedented or not. Even though their relationship wasn't at that level just yet, Gen knew deep down it would come at some point. It was best not to rush things as he learned from prior experiences, they tended to leave him with some horrid memories along with his former profession. He knew Ryu had some awareness of Rose's growing affection as he could see it between their interactions in his store. He of course knew that he wouldn't know how Ryu would respond back to them exactly but surely something good would come out of it. For now, it was best to leave the two fighters alone and let them forge their own destiny.

As they were now out of sight, Gen spoke. "Both of you have the opportunity to forge your own path; do not squander it and stray off that path. Only you have the means to choose your own destiny. Do not let the past define who you are as it will only hold you back. Ryu, that woman has quite a gift, I hope that you let her assist you in battling your own demons. Help her and protect her from forces that will do more harm than good."

Gen then took out his smoking pipe, he caressed the smooth silver metal and could only sigh at his words. Maybe it was his old age finally getting to him but he didn't mind it; it was a bit relieving to know that he still had some shred of kindness in him, most likely the influence of Rose's fortunetelling. He returned to his store ready to deal with the customers of the day.

Ryu and Rose were now waiting for a bus to come by. Rose asked where they were going next and Ryu's answer was southeast China. He told her that they were taking a train towards their next destination. This actually surprised Rose because during their travels, this was the first time they had taken a train so it actually did excite her.

The bus arrived in which they quickly both got on, Ryu knew the exact stop to get off thanks to Gen's knowledge of the area. It was about 11 in the morning in which they had taken the bus to another one as it was needed to reach the train station. The bus rides were enjoyable as they could observe the outside environment.

It was just like the first time they took the bus to Taizhou, they could see all the rural towns and agriculture that took place in the back. They could see that people were happy and enjoyed talking to each other. They could see that all of these people, no matter who they were was simply living life.

Rose couldn't help but feel some sort of envy for these people that she saw. They had such a normalized life compared to her apparent artificial one. She learned to accept that her life was not normal by any means but she decided to think of the good things that it provided.

It was a strange thought to come across her mind but maybe she was happy that her life wasn't exactly normal. Rose's reason for that was that she was able to have the chance to find some meaning, any kind of meaning that would help in her existence. Traveling with Ryu seemed to be the best thing that she could think of at the moment; the memorable experiences that it provided helped her put some kind of ease on her burdened heart.

In all honesty, she had never been happier than now, sure she loved helping people back home with her powers of premonition but she always felt like there was something more out there for her. Somehow Ryu was able to be a driving force in her life right now; she found it strange how a fighter with such nomadic movements was able to trek all over and not feel any discontent, only just to live for the next challenge that awaited him. In a way, she envied Ryu because he also experienced tragedy in his life but he never let it deter him, he always said it was best to move forward for the future. Rose learned to do the same and even though those dark thoughts recessed its way into her mind at times, she decided to follow Ryu's way of living and it actually provided her some semblance of satisfaction. She barely had any nightmares now and she was able to concentrate on her soul powers. Whatever awaited her, she had Ryu to make sure that nothing happened to her and that's all she could ask for now.

After about 30 minutes on the first bus, they finally reached the station for the following bus that would take them to the train station. Lucky for them, the bus was already at the station taking passengers. After providing the tickets to the bus driver, the bus began to move towards Nanjing where the train station was located. After getting into their seats, Rose began to doze off in which Ryu provided his shoulder for her to rest on. Just like the time in when she got sick and slept, Ryu couldn't help but smile at the fortuneteller's face. She looked gentle, serene and dare he say, a little pretty.

Pretty? Where did that come from?

Ryu was surprised at all the events that happened until now. It was more surprising because he never really considered traveling with anyone at all, he thought of it as a hindrance in his quest but that wasn't apparently the case. He never knew that having a traveling companion could be this enjoyable. The one thing he definitely appreciated about Rose's company was that he had someone to talk to, a companion, a fellow fighter and more importantly, a friend. He of course couldn't ask for Ken to travel with him as he had other priorities instead. As of the moment, he favored Rose's presence over Ken's, not because he wasn't there exactly but more of the fact that she was a female.

A female fighter was nothing new to Ryu, he met some that hailed from England to China to his native country of Japan. He knew these fighters were strong in their own right, they were able to be on par with the many men that came from all different places to participate in the tournament and that was something that Ryu had no choice but to respect. It showed him that there were many fighters out there that he had not come across just yet. He looked forward to meeting the many people out there and if possible, engaging in battle with them.

About an hour and a half later, Ryu had caught sight of the Nanjing station. Gently shaking Rose from her slumber, she opened her eyes and saw that they had arrived at their destination. With a small yawn and a stretch, she and Ryu began walking to the train station.

The fortuneteller's eyes couldn't believe her eyes when she entered the station. The place was so grandiose in size and structure that she couldn't believe that it was an actual train station. She looked around to see people coming from all directions most likely trying to reach their train at wherever it was stationed at.

"Well, that was a long ride. It's good that we're finally getting fresh air again," Ryu stated. "I think it's time for us to get our tickets, Rose."

Ryu's voice pulled Rose from her fascination. "Oh, right. Well, I'm not exactly familiar with this place so maybe you know where to go and I'll just follow."

"Sure, let's go. It was a good thing I asked Master Gen before we left," Ryu started to move and as he looked back to see Rose, he saw her looking somewhere, it was more like she was looking for something. "Rose, is something wrong?"

With a smile on her face, she faced Ryu. "No, I'm just trying to sense any spirits that may cause some harm. I do this for everywhere I go but I am fine, Ryu. Thank you for worrying about me though."

"I'm just trying to make sure you're well. I'd rather not see you sick again as I was really worried about you." A blush appeared on her face as Ryu said that. She never expected him to say those words but she definitely appreciated when he said that he was worried about her well-being.

"Thank you, Ryu. I'm also grateful to you for taking care of me while I was sick. I hope the spirits forever watch over you," Rose couldn't do anything but thank him. To know that he helped take care of her was enough.

Ryu nodded and started walking with Rose following shortly behind him. He couldn't help but notice the stares he received from the many people that were in the train station. Well, seeing a man with only a karate gi and no footwear would make anybody look with curiosity. Having found the ticket booth rather quickly, Ryu purchased the train tickets in which he was told that the next train wouldn't be here for close to a half an hour.

Seeing that they had some time to relax before the train came, food was next to be purchased as they were hungry at the moment. As the pair saw a food court, Ryu felt a little tug on his pants. Looking down at where the tug was coming from, he saw three little children: two boys and one girl. Looking down, he could see that one of the boys was the one that tugged on his pants.

"Excuse me, mister?" The tugging boy asked. "Why don't you have any shoes?"

"Ryu, would you like for me to stay with you?" Rose asked.

"No, it's ok. Go get yourself some food, I'll stay here and talk to these little ones." Ryu responded.

Leaving Ryu to tend to the children's questions, Rose walked to one of the food stands and purchased a tray of dumplings. She knew that Ryu liked them and she had some sort of fondness for them also. Walking back to where Ryu was, she could see that he was still talking to the children and judging by the gleam in their eyes, she could tell that they were having a good time talking to him. Seeing Ryu with these children made her wonder what he'd be like if they both decided to have a child one day.

Rose felt her cheeks heat up once more and she had to get that image out of her head. 'Wait, why am I thinking about things like that? I feel like I should calm down, I mean we don't even have a relationship like that-'

Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw Ryu kneel down to where she was sitting and he put a hand on her shoulder making her look up to see that he was in front of her. "Rose, your cheeks are red. You're not sick again, are you?"

"Um, no, I'm fine," Rose than handed him the tray of dumplings of which accepted with utmost gratitude. "Where did those children go?" She asked seeing as she saw no signs of them.

Quickly eating a dumpling, Ryu answered, "Well, their parents came by seeing as their train arrived. They asked some questions about what martial arts I practiced and why I don't have any shoes. It seems that they're interested in learning martial arts themselves. It's kind of like Misora and her friends."

"It seems that you have that effect on people." Rose said.

"What do you mean?" Ryu asked.

"Because of your presence, people want to better themselves and learn more than what they already know. I think I can include myself in that group if I might add." Her statement was true, Rose was indeed bettering herself.

Ryu looked forward as he spoke. "I don't think I have anything to do with anyone learning. Maybe they see that their limits are holding them back but they have no way on how to push past that. I'm still learning more about life myself." He then looked at Rose. "Rose, you bettered yourself because you knew deep down that what you were known as wasn't really you in the first place. You achieved that without me having to do much and that's why I know you're capable of doing greater things."

Rose couldn't help but smile at Ryu's words. To hear him acknowledge her efforts in trying to progress from that darkness brought her relief and great joy. She knew that she wasn't a slave to Bison and his power, she knew that she could overcome all the pain and despair that came from being connected to him and she was determined to prove to herself that she could be her own person and actually exist for her and for her only.

"Ryu, even though I've said this numerous times and I'll most likely keep saying it: Thank you. Words like yours help me push through the many nights of hopelessness and burdening I've put on myself. For that, you have my thanks." Rose spoke with absolute recognition of Ryu's efforts in helping her.

"Not a problem, I'll be there at every step to assist you." Ryu spoke with conviction.

Rose could only nod as she began eating the dumplings. An idea came to her and she could only hope that Ryu would allow her to go through with it but knowing Ryu and how open he was with her, he most likely would.

"Ryu?" Rose asked as he turned to her. "Um, would you mind if I fed you some dumplings?" She couldn't help but feel embarrassed asking such a question.

"Sure, I don't mind." Ryu replied.

Rose smiled as she used her chopsticks and brought a dumpling to his mouth. The man willingly opened his mouth and accepted the dumpling, he enjoyed that Rose was feeding him. He was even more surprised by the expression on Rose's face as she was doing so. She had a modest smile on her face and judging by the way that she kept on feeding him, she was actually excited and willing to do so. In his mind, Ryu thought of this as something that couples did.

A couple, huh? Sure, he knew that Rose was indeed a beautiful woman but he never really tried to look at it past that of friendship. All he saw was him helping out a friend, nothing more and nothing less. Even if they were to have a relationship that superseded their platonic one, how would he go about it exactly? If they were to be in such a relationship, Ryu was aware that the dynamic between them would change without a doubt. Many questions plagued him as he thought of what could possibly happen if that was to come true. Things like if he could still help and protect her and would she be safe around him as he could still feel the Satsui no Hadō trying to fight its way out. For now, his goal was to continue helping Rose and that was motivation enough to keep him going.

An intercom came on informing the people in the train station that the train for south Nanjing had arrived. Realizing that it was time to go, the two fighters stood up and began walking to the train. As they arrived at the train, they saw that it was a highly populated train station. The train stood in front of them, painted with blue and red seats inside.

A ding was heard which meant that it was time to embark on the train. The train shortly left after the passengers boarded. Ryu couldn't help but look at Rose who had taken out her medicine book that she received from Gen, she look completely entranced by the contents inside and why wouldn't she? This could possibly help all the people back at her home see that there was someone that cared for them, she would be able to make a difference for numerous lives around her. Ryu couldn't help but smile at Rose's kind nature, to know that she was a part of Bison's soul at some point was unbelievable in an ironic sort of way. Why would someone want to remove all kindness in their soul? It just didn't make any sense to him at all but he figured that maybe he wasn't meant to understand why he did it in the first place. Either way Rose was fine the way she is, that much he knew and he would assure her every time she needed reassurance.

Before they knew it, about 25 minutes quickly went by as they arrived at the next leg of their trip. Realizing that their next train was due to arrive at the station in a few minutes, Rose and Ryu got up and purchased their tickets. Just as they did, the intercom announced that the train for Hankou which was their next destination was now at the station. They briskly walked through the large crowds of people to reach the train, luckily they did and with time to spare.

In front of them was a massive white and blue bullet train, it reminded Ryu of the trains in Japan seeing as they looked very identical. Rose knew that trains like these existed in Italy but she had never been on any of them before. Stepping inside the train, she was surprised by how spacious the interior was. The atmosphere looked so posh and welcoming, the seats were blue and looked amazing to sit on.

The train was set to leave in 15 minutes so the two fighters took some time to observe the train. It amazed them that this train looked so welcoming and pleasant. As they decided to take the time to look at the train in its entirety, they saw that there were many passengers ranging from families to professionals in different sections of the train.

"**Attention passengers. The train for Hankou will be leaving shortly, please take your seats and have your tickets out for verification, thank you.**" A woman on the intercom said.

Following the instructions from the intercom, Ryu looked at the seats listed on his and Rose's tickets. They walked to the car that had their seat numbers posted somewhere on the right side of the train and sat down, Ryu put his duffle bag on the top of the holding area where their seats were located. With a blare from the train horn, the train was now in motion. The time on the ticket told them that Hankou would be reached in a bit more than three hours.

One of the train attendants came by and started scanning tickets. When the train attendant came to Rose and Ryu, they had brought their tickets out and gave it to be scanned. With a beep, the attendant bid them farewell and moved onto the other passengers.

Rose closed her eyes and she could feel the soul power coursing through her. Ryu was wondering what she was doing until she opened her eyes which were glowing white making Ryu confused. He tried to figure out what she was doing until he saw a deck of cards materialize in her hand. Now that she was done, Rose sighed out and brought her cards out onto the desk provided with her seat.

Going through the cards, Rose looked through each of them and placed her index finger on each one. One by one, she imbued some of her soul power into them until she was done.

Now that he thought about it, Ryu had never asked about Rose's fascination with tarot reading. The first time he met her, she had briefly warned him about Bison not really knowing who she was but something told him that she could be trusted. He wanted to know more about Rose as he had told her about him so right now could probably the time to find out about who she was.

"Rose?" He asked.

The Italian woman turned to him and asked, "Yes Ryu, what is it?"

"I've always wondered about those cards that you always have on you." He said.

"Oh, do you want to know more about them?" Rose asked even though she was surprised at Ryu's sudden fascination with the cards.

"Yes, if you don't mind." Ryu said.

Rose then held out the deck of cards in both of her hands. "Tarot cards are used to gain some understanding of a past, present or the future. The cards are unique in their own way as they can be a pivotal point in someone's destiny. The power of these cards is something that should not be taken lightly as the universe works in mysterious ways. Every card as a meaning, look and I'll show you."

Ryu did as she asked. He saw that the cards were being separated into two decks. He took a look at the intricate designs on the back of the cards: a sienna background with golden strands looping in different directions but aesthetics weren't important right now. As she finished sorting the cards out, Rose brought his hands and placed it on both decks.

"Now, we will begin. I do this when I start my fortunetelling with every customer that wants their fortune told." Rose then removed his hands from the decks and placed her own hands on both of them. She began to pick up one card and looked at it. She smiled at what she picked up. She turned the card around and showed it to Ryu.

"This card right here is called the King of Pentacles. This card most accurately describes you not just as a person, but as a fighter." Rose told Ryu.

"How so?" He asked.

"The King of Pentacles standing upright symbolizes security, control, power and discipline," she then turned the card upside down. "Upside down it represents dominance and a lack of control. This card represents you in particular because in the time that I've traveled with you, you show that you're in control of your actions a majority of the time. The card reversed is meant to symbolize the evil energy within you. When it comes out, you lose all sense of control and you're prepared to strike anyone, friend or foe. Am I right, Ryu?"

Ryu couldn't help but be amazed at Rose's reading on him, it was true that he had a lot of control over himself and wouldn't let himself be coerced by anything that would harm anyone. On the other hand, there was the presence of the Satsui no Hadō which affected his mind and spirit every day but his willpower wouldn't let him succumb to it, he refused to do so as it would mean that not only Rose but others wouldn't be safe around him.

"I'm amazed by how you're able to do that. Have you done that for all the others that have come to get their fortune told?" Ryu asked thinking that if she was able to read him, then surely she did it for many others.

"Yes, I have. It seems that these powers have given me a purpose in helping others find out what their own destiny is," Rose simply responded. "Now then, shall we continue?"

Ryu could only nod as his response. Rose then went back to the decks and picked up another card. This one surprised her but after what Ryu told her, she couldn't be more surprised. She turned the card to Ryu before explaining the significance of it.

"This card is called the Six of Swords. As this card stands upright, it symbolizes a transition needed but it also leaves regret," she turned the card upside down just like the first one she picked up. "Reverse means that you haven't fully moved on, that there's a weight holding you down? Ryu, is this also accurate? Is there something holding you back from moving on?"

Ryu could only close his eyes in frustration as he knew Rose was right once more with her fortunetelling. The loss of Gouken had put such a burden on Ryu as he was young at the time and couldn't do anything at all. The man who had taken him in and raised him like a son being raised by his father fell, simply because he found himself powerless to do so. To know that the man who had assassinated his master stood in front of him and he could do nothing. He remembered the red hair and the tanned skin of the perpetrator and judging by his stance, he was trained in the same art as he and his master. It is why he strived to be better and why he would not allow himself to lose any of the people close to him.

"My master." Ryu said looking into Rose's eyes.

"What?" Rose inquired.

"My master that I told you about some time ago," Ryu said while putting his head down. "His death is the weight that continues to burden me. I lost him because I couldn't do anything, I didn't have the strength to prevent his death which left me…lost and confused. To know that I was powerless to do something; it's one of the reasons why I refuse to stop progressing myself up to this day. I don't ever want to feel that powerlessness ever again and I'll continue to keep pushing myself every day until I can no longer will my body to move. I will get stronger and I will not allow myself to lose anyone else close to me."

Rose couldn't help but look at the hardened look in his eyes as he rose his head up. She saw a man that was willing to push himself to the utmost brink to make sure that anyone close to him would not lose their life. The image of that scene would forever be etched onto his mind and that alone was enough for him to keep fighting because to Ryu the fight never ended until his last breath.

"I'm sorry, Ryu. It must be an uncomfortable thing for you to talk about." Rose said as she was starting to regret talking about it, this was most likely a sensitive topic for him to talk about.

She was putting the cards away until she saw a hand stop the movement of her own. She looked up to see Ryu's hand on hers which made her eyes widen. "Rose, you didn't do anything wrong."

"I feel that I may have unnecessarily intruded into your past. Are you sure?" Rose asked just in case she may have brought up some unfortunate memories.

"I'm sure. Besides, I feel that I can talk to you about these kind of things because you've told me about your past," Ryu assured Rose that he had not been offended while his hand was still on hers. He picked a card up and held it in the air. "Also, you still haven't told me about these cards you use in your fortunetelling yet."

"Really? You still want me to teach you about the cards?" Rose could only be surprised by his words. She could only be more surprised because the fortunetelling was the cause of those memories resurfacing. To know that Ryu was still willing to learn about tarot reading told him that he had a forgivable and noble spirit and that was something she appreciated.

"Yes. Also, it wasn't your fault. You just did what I asked you to do, I can't fault you for that." To emphasize that, he picked up his hand from hers and picked up another card before giving them back to her.

The Italian fortuneteller could only feel proud that Ryu was into learning about what she did for a living. As she gathered all the cards, she turned them upside down making each of the cards split up. She arranged the cards and split them into four decks based on which suit each card was a part of. After she was done, she welcomed Ryu any question he had when it came to the piles of cards between the two of them.

"Now, ask me any questions that you have about the cards. I'll be sure to answer them with confidence." Rose told Ryu in which she was prepared to answer any questions she had.

"What do the cards mean? Why are they so important in fortunetelling?" Ryu asked.

"Well, each suit of cards represents our activities in day-to-day life. I've separated the decks into four different suits so that they can be explained further. I think showing you is better so that it can be explained," she picked up one of the cards from one of decks at random and placed it at the front of the table. "This card here is called the Six of Cups; it comes from the Suit of Cups which this card comes from along with other cards associated with this suit."

"What exactly does the Suit of Cups stand for?" Ryu asked while focusing on the card in her hand.

"Well, the Suit of Cups represents our emotions and consciousness. It includes things like love, expressing ourselves, our connections with others," she then picked the Six of Cups and held it to Ryu. "The Six of Cups standing upright represents memories, nostalgia, reunions with loved ones we haven't seen in a long time," she then turned the card upside down just like the cards she used with Ryu a few minutes ago, "in reverse, it represents us not being able to let go of the past and unrealistic standards we set for ourselves."

With a nod, Ryu understood the cards for a bit but he did ask a question which he had wondered about for some time now, "I understand how they help to understand but there is one thing I'm curious about? Why do you turn the cards upside down?"

She remembered that Ryu had an inquiring expression when she did so she answered his question. "Each card has two meanings. It's like two different sides of a coin. When it comes to tarot reading, what you say may influence someone's life drastically so that's why it's best to be knowledgeable about all the cards when telling someone's fortune. To answer your question, when we hold the cards upright, it is to predict the good of what the card represents and when we turn it upside down, it represents the negative notions of life."

"I see. Even so, how are you able to predict someone's future?" This was the part that Ryu was the most curious about as he had never understood how fortunetellers were able to actually predict someone's future.

"Well, our job as fortunetellers is to not tell them what to do but of what may come in their future. Unfortunately, some people tend to misunderstand our readings and take them to heart which may affect them negatively in the future." Rose couldn't express this enough as she had met many unruly customers at times.

Even though he had a bit of an understanding of fortunetelling, Ryu couldn't help but feel a bit indifferent to it. Could someone's predictions be true just because they were told it would happen? That he didn't know but he knew Rose was not an ordinary fortuneteller, he could feel that her readings were trustworthy and accurate. He figured it was best to keep his views to himself for the time being seeing as he didn't want to offend her and it was also something she took very seriously. Just knowing that she was willing to talk about herself was good enough for him.

"So what about the other cards?" Ryu asked indicating about the other suits.

Rose picked up the card on her left seeing as she already picked up a card from the suit second to the last suit of cards. She held it to him which made Ryu look at the card wondering what it meant. "The Suit of Swords represents our intelligence, rationality and power. This card is known as the Page of Swords; standing upright, it represents high enthusiasm, curiosity and talkativeness," she turned the card upside down. "Reverse, it represents hastiness and false promises."

Ryu couldn't help but chuckle as it reminded him of one person to him. "It sounds like you've picked up Ken's card. He's strong but at times he'll jump into things without considering how it affects him. He definitely was very hasty when he was younger. Now that I also think about it, it also sounds like another person that also used to train with my master."

"To be honest, I don't think this card actually represents you. You are quite the opposite in fact. Somehow you're able to keep yourself calm and composed no matter what situation you find yourself in, it's actually very admirable."

Ryu couldn't help but airily play her words off with a smile. "Well, after my master passed, I thought that I would have to train hard to possess a brave and enduring spirit. I'm sure that he'd be satisfied with that if he saw me today. I'm glad that you think of me that way."

Rose was happy to hear that compliment from Ryu. During all their time traveling, Ryu would constantly encourage her so to hear those words of thanks meant something to her. If possible in the near future, maybe he would be more open to talk about himself and that was something for her to look forward to.

She then picked up another card from a different deck after setting the Page of Swords card to the side. "This card I've picked up is known as the Queen of Wands. Standing upright, it represents determination, exuberance, and warmth," she then turned the card upside down. "Reversed, it represents aggressiveness and demands. It actually makes sense seeing as this particular suit represents our spirituality and the energy we feel."

Taking the card at Rose's surprise, Ryu looked at the card and there indeed was a queen on it. Hearing Rose explain it made him think of her which he thought was strange but not unwelcomed, the description of the card did seem to fit Rose's character. Rose had a gentle spirit inside her, he saw it many times as they were both working in Gen's shop. Particularly around children and elderly people, she was extremely kind to them. He then remembered that she aspired to help the unfortunate people in her country, to know that she stayed with Gen for his tutelage was an act that he saw as selfless and that was amazing to know. If this wasn't enough to discern her from the Shadaloo dictator, then what was exactly?

"Ryu?" Rose's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Hmm?" He responded with.

"You look really focused on that card. Does it mean something to you? Does it represent someone or something important to you?" Rose could see the way he looked at the card. Surely it meant something to him.

"Well, I wouldn't say it reminds me of something from the past, that wouldn't be right," he then looked at the card and then looked at Rose. "I'd say that this card represents you, especially the way you just described it to me."

Astonishment was the proper word to describe Rose's face that instant. What exactly did that mean, was there something more to it that she didn't understand at the moment? Maybe Ryu would be able to elaborate to give her a better understanding of what he meant.

"Ryu, how does that card represent me? I'm sure you're thinking of someone else." Rose could only try to figure out what he meant and implied that he was mistaken. Deep down somewhere inside her, she hoped that what he said was true.

"No, I'm sure that you come to mind. The reason I say that is because your determination is what drives you to keep going. You're determined to prove to everyone that you're not like the person who you came from; that your spirit is warm and full of positive energy that helps people go through their day. Even though I have no knowledge of fortunetelling, I don't exactly need it to know how a person is like. I see who they are through their actions and your actions have proven to me that you're a strong person, Rose." Ryu explained. He then held the card out and placed it into the palm of her hand.

With the card now back in her possession, Rose could only gaze at the illustration of the card. She didn't know if there was a deeper meaning behind Ryu's words as he said that but she definitely appreciated it seeing that it came from him. Before putting the card way, she put a glowing finger to the card and said something in a low voice before putting it away along with the other cards that she picked up previously.

One more suit of cards was left and like the others, maybe there would be a card that represented something to them. To make it interesting for both of them, she decided to go through the last suit differently than the others. With her soul power, she levitated the cards and put them down one by one making the back of the cards face up this time instead of the front, she put the cards down one by one until all cards stacked on top of each other.

Her eyes closed and she tapped the suit of cards with a bit of her soul power in her index finger. She concentrated her power on the cards and made the whole deck illuminate before removing her finger and composing herself before picking up the card from the last suit.

"Now let's see what we have here?" She picked up the card and turned it around which surprised her but maybe Ryu would understand. "This suit is known as the Suit of Pentacles which represents our physical and external level of consciousness; things like our health, money, and creativity. Things we use to express ourselves. The card I've picked up is known as the Three of Pentacles which represents teamwork, fulfillment, and learning while standing upright," She turned it upside down and held it in front of Ryu. "Reversed, it represents a disregard for unity and teamwork."

"I would say that this card represents us at the moment." Ryu said.

"How so?" Rose asked.

"Ever since we first started traveling, we've always helped each other in a way. Like the time we fought Misora and her friends and you assisted me. Another time is when you had fallen ill and I was there to take care of you with Master Gen's help, of course. To me, that's what makes you a special friend in my eyes just like the others. Our health is worth more than all the riches in the world and that's something I wholly cherish. Do you feel the same way, Rose?"

Rose smiled as she responded, "Yes, I do Ryu. I believe that as long as we support each other that there is nothing that can deter us from our goal. Thank you, Ryu, for being there for me."

"There's no reason to thank me, Rose. At first, I was hesitant in bringing you along with me but I've actually enjoyed the past few weeks that we've been traveling together, it actually makes it more meaningful seeing that I can experience this with someone by my side."

"Well, maybe it was fate that allowed us to meet each other. That time when I first met you at the tournament, when I warned you of the impending danger. I had a feeling that it would not be the last time we meet and just like many of my predictions thanks to the spirits, it would seem that I was right." Rose said as she thought about the first time they had met.

"I don't know much about fate but I'm glad to have met you, even though under different circumstances." Ryu said as he also reminisced about how they met.

At first, when he met her and heard her premonition, he was skeptical but knew that there was some truth to her words. He always had a feeling that there was an ominous presence surrounding him but he did not know what it was exactly. Maybe Rose meeting him had been a predestined fate but he decided that it was best not to think of it as anything complex, life was complex enough already as it was.

Rose took out a card and she looked at the one that had brought her to Ryu in the first place: The Fool. This card had set out a path for her to seek out the answers she needed. Once she thought about it, this card is what started everything in the first place. There was a reason in why this card was her favorite one. To her, it created beginnings, the beginning of starting a life anew, to meet new people, to go to many places, to experience life and leave all negativity back in the past, maybe and just maybe to meet someone to even love. For these things, she would forever be grateful to this card despite the troubles that she experienced because of it.

"Ryu, do you know what this card is?" She showed The Fool card to Ryu who had stared at it for some time.

"No, what is it?" He wondered.

"These cards are very special. They're known as Major Arcana cards, they're very important when it comes to tarot reading," Rose pulled out a deck of cards and placed them face-down but instead of the sierra brown color on the back like the previous cards, these cards had an azure blue color. "This particular deck of cards are used to represent the human conscious and the mysteries of life. These cards are also my favorite because of their universal meanings."

"Universal meanings?" Ryu questioned.

Smiling at his curious question, Rose levitated two cards from the deck and held them in her hand. "It's better that I show you _and _explain so that you can see what I mean." She revealed the two cards and put them face-up making the Shotokan wanderer raise his eyebrow in confusion. "These cards here are known as the Hermit and the Chariot. They are just two cards from this deck. As to your question, universal means that no matter what background, religion, or philosophy you incorporate into your life, these cards will represent something to you in life."

"Can you go into detail, please?" Ryu asked as he understood what she meant but he needed her to explain the meanings as she did with the other cards.

"Not a problem." Rose placed the Chariot card between them, the illustration of the card was a man in armor with what looked like two sphinxes alongside him. "The Chariot represents our control, willpower, and victory, standing upright of course. Reversed, it represents our lack of control, misdirection. In life, there are certain things we have control over and there are things we can't control no matter how much we want to."

"Like the Satsui no Hadō for example." Ryu claimed.

"Yes, that is one example. Mine would be my so-called "birth", which is something I had no control of at all." Rose said with thoughts of Bison and Shadaloo flooding her mind.

Negative as it may have been, they recognized these things as flaws but they didn't want to exactly look at it like flaws but more of something unique to their characters. It was best to look at things from the positive which would keep moving them forward instead of regressing.

Rose put the Chariot card away and brought the Hermit card to the front now. "Well, this is the last card. It is known as the Hermit. Ryu, before I started traveling with you, there are many times in which you have meditated of course and still do, am I right?"

"Yes." Ryu answered.

Rose then looked at the Hermit card before asking Ryu, "Why exactly do you meditate?"

"To find my inner peace. Mediation helps me with deciding in whether something I'm doing is constructive or destructive. It helps me look at the world in a different view from what I see through my actual eyes. It increases my awareness and helps me stay calm, to think about how my actions can affect not only myself but others around me." Ryu answered in a firm tone with utmost distinction and tenacity.

"Well, your answer seems to coincide with this card's representation and that's good. Our inner guidance tends to make us more aware of our surroundings and take everything at face value; some people call it intuition or a sixth sense. I believe it's more of instinct that allows us to make decisions that are important to our future." She looked at the Hermit card and pointed to it. "This card is meant to represent the soul-searching aspect of our lives along with inner guidance to seek out the truths we truly desire."

"I'm sure that in the reverse position, that card represents something else like the others?" Ryu inquired. He was starting to pick up on the nature of these cards that Rose had been telling him about.

"You're catching on, Ryu," she turned the card upside-down. "Reverse, the Hermit represents our isolation from the world, our lack of companionship, and withdrawal from our problems. I don't think we are lonely though as we have each other to count upon, wouldn't you say?"

Ryu figured that she was right, even though he had been alone involuntarily many times before, he never felt like he was lonely as he had nature as his greatest mentor wherever he went. It taught him about life and all its splendors. To appreciate all that could be given and also taken away in an instant. Life was what gave him humility, honor, and perseverance and just for that, he'd be forever grateful even in the darkest of times.

"Yeah, I'd say you're right. Thank you for teaching me about what you do, Rose." He bowed his head as a way of showing his appreciation for learning about fortunetelling.

"No need to thank me. I'm just glad that someone is open-minded about learning about how these cards work and how our lives are affected by them." Rose said modestly, even though she was happy to as least teach Ryu about the tarot cards' purpose. She looked outside and saw the many fields of grass quickly zooming by. "How long do you think it will take until we reach our destination?"

"Well, if I'm correct, it should take about four more hours until we reach Chengdu. After that, we can figure how to go about from there." Ryu said eagerly looking forward to what Chengdu had in store for them.

"I suppose I can keep myself occupied with Gen's book." Ryu noticed that this was the second time she took it out and he could tell that she was really dedicated to learning all that she could about Chinese medicine.

"You seem very dedicated to that book, Rose. You must really want to help people."

"I want to help the unfortunate, the ones that go unnoticed by the ones in charge. If this book can make any difference in their lives, then I will make the effort to do so. I want to provide hope to them; to give them something to hold on to and to show that someone does care for them." She then held her scarf and entwined it in her hands.

Ryu couldn't help but admire Rose's dedication to helping out the less unfortunate, he thought of her actions as noble. Her words echoed to him as he had encountered the negative aspects of life; pestilence, famine, sickness, death and much more in many parts of the world. Even if it was something small, Rose was determined and sometimes just determination was enough. He figured it wouldn't be easy doing this by herself and she would require some help along the way, and he would surely offer it to her if she needed it.

"I'll leave you to your reading then. Maybe in the future, I can understand these cards better. As of now, I'm just a novice. I think some rest will help the time go by." Ryu said as he leaned back into the chair.

"It seems that I've somehow made you interested in tarot reading. Don't worry, I'll be sure to teach you more in the future. For now, just sleep Ryu." Her words drifted him to sleep as he needed it for Chengdu. His breathing was calm, yet focused on the same time, it was like sleeping was training himself which it was.

She couldn't help but look at the chiseled jawbone and feel warmth invade her cheeks. Realizing what was happening, she shook her head quickly and went back to her book. These thoughts that she was having recently started to worry her state of mind and that was not good as she still was close to regaining full strength.

Maybe at some point, she would confront these haphazard thoughts but it was best to leave them be. They would only be a crutch for both of them on their individual paths. If possible, if she was to be honest, she yearned for someone's touch and she thought that there was no better one than the man next to her sleeping. She looked at these thoughts as strange but who knew what could happen?

She certainly didn't and she wouldn't until the time was right. As the stars looked upon her from beyond the sky, she would make sure that they were aligned just right before she acted on these feelings anytime soon. One question she did have though.

Did Ryu have similar thoughts about her?

In the subconscious of Ryu's mind, he decided to gather himself in his mind, he found it was the easiest to do so while sleeping. Glowing blood-red eyes peered upon his figure as he stared back at it with disgust and irritancy.

"**Fool, what are you doing?! Why do you continue to drag that gypsy around?!**" The voice bellowed at Ryu. He stared back at the menacing red eyes that continued to look at him with impatience and fury.

"I do not need you for power, I will be able to defeat him with my own strength." Ryu told the evil presence.

"**You're pitiful and weak. You think you alone can defeat a demon? No. Only a demon can defeat a demon and I can provide that power. The time against those young wenches, you know that you liked it; the taste of true power. Accept me, you forsaken fool!**" The voice chastised him. To know that this was his vessel was a shame to him and his power. He needed the restraints on him broken and to know that his host voluntarily refused to do so had annoyed him to no end.

"The power that you represent is the one that ended my master's life. If I need to tap into you, I'd gladly put my life away to make sure that no one gets hurt," he looked at the presence with an intense gaze. "Now leave, you're not wanted here."

"**I will be back and you will give in to me." **The voice said as his presence completely disappeared which left Ryu to himself.

As much as he hated to admit it, the voice was right about one thing. The time he tapped into the Satsui no Hadō, he felt the power rush through his veins and it felt exhilarating, exciting, and most of all, unstoppable.

No, he couldn't allow himself to fall into that dark temptation. To know that the same power that murdered his master was within him as well brought about many inner conflicts. If he was to have any say, he wouldn't allow himself to lose to that path, he saw what the grasp of power did to people and he refused to become one of them. He would rely on his own willpower to be strong or die trying.

The sacrosanct realm that was his mind was supposed to be safe and free from intruders, alas that was not the case with the manifestation of violence and destruction that appeared before him just like it had many times before. Ryu wouldn't give up, he wouldn't even think of it but even if his heart was there, the two demons whose presence that periodically appeared at times would make it a very challenging thing to do.

For now, he needed rest. Rest would rejuvenate him and he'd figure out what to do afterwards.

The hours quickly went by as the train was approaching Chengdu. Rose looked up from her book through the window and saw that the station was in sight, it wasn't too far from where she was looking either. She looked over to Ryu to see that he was still sleeping and judging by the serious look on his face, he must have been dreaming about something involving the Satsui no Hadō. She hated that he struggled against it but she knew that he would be able to overcome the allure that it presented.

"**Attention passengers, we will be reaching Chengdu Station in approximately seven minutes. Please be sure to have all personal belongings on you at all times when exiting the train. Thank you for riding with us and we hope you had an enjoyable trip.**" The intercom said rustling Ryu from his sleep.

"Hmm, Rose? Are we there yet?" Ryu asked while he began to wake up.

"In a few minutes, we will be," Rose answered looking at the pavement and the train rails outside her window. This train ride had somehow deepened hers and Ryu's friendship and it also allowed her to learn more about Ryu's life before.

Rose saw him talking about himself as more of a scratch on the surface about him. She knew that he had questions about her life also. Well, the life that she did contemplate but it was still her life nonetheless.

The train started to slow down as it approached the train station until it came to a halt. The screeching of metal indicated that it was time for customers to depart. Rose and Ryu got their belongings and exited the train. As they were now out on the platform, they both looked at the sky and could see that the sky was painted with an orange tint which indicated that their trip took quite a while.

The large amounts of people surprised them but they were in a very busy city so it was understandable. Rose looked outside from the station and saw the taxis ready for picking people up but what really caught her attention was the city of Chengdu in the back. Judging by the many lights, she could tell that it was a very lively city at night and it wasn't even nighttime yet.

"Ryu, where should we go?" Rose asked as they began walking to the exit. She made sure to grab a map of Chengdu as they were doing so.

"Hmm," Ryu contemplated on where to go once they got outside. In all actuality, he did not know where to go but he knew that a hotel was a good idea to go to so he chose that. "A hotel will be our next destination if that's okay with you."

"I don't see why that should be a problem," Rose said as she didn't mind his choice of place.

Once they stepped outside, the two fighters saw a cab in front and got in. As they were in the car, they were trying to figure out which hotel to go to as they had no idea what Chengdu was like. They looked in the pamphlet that Rose picked up earlier and looked in the list of hotels provided and they were fairly impressed by the list of hotels that were provided in Chengdu. One hotel stood out to them and it was decided that this hotel would be their choice of accommodation until it was time to depart.

They stopped the driver at the decided hotel and left a tip. As they looked at the hotel in front of them, they couldn't even believe the enormity and the size as it towered over them. Even Ryu who had not stayed in hotels much could only look in awe as he stared upon the size and magnificence it emanated.

Once they entered the hotel, their eyes surveyed the area and they could tell that this was not exactly a hotel that came off as inexpensive. The lobby was full of posh chairs, the floor composed of marble and granite, the pillars that were part of the foundation, and on top, a chandelier that was just over the center of the room. Ryu could see some of the people giving him strange looks as they looked at his appearance but just like then, he didn't mind. Moving past their initial awe, the two fighters walked towards the reception desk. They were greeted by a young man of Chinese origin in the front who was looking on the computer not too long ago.

"Greetings, welcome to the Shangri-La Hotel Chengdu. How can I help you today?" The man asked politely.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you had any rooms with two beds tonight?" Ryu asked.

"Hold on for a moment, please. Yes, we do have some but are you sure you don't want a room together with one bed?" The man said while looking at the directory on the computer for the rooms available.

"Together?" Ryu inquired.

"Yes, for you and your female companion. She's very beautiful, might I add." The receptionist said about Rose making a faint blush appear on her face.

This was more of a surprise to Ryu. Did they really look that much like a couple in people's eyes? Not trying to think too much about it, Ryu's mind returned to the task at hand in securing a room for their stay.

"I guess we can do that. We'll take your offer." Ryu decided once he thought about it.

"Very well, sir but we need you to purchase the room before we can take you up," the receptionist said as he looked at Ryu's attire. "This hotel isn't exactly, if I may say to be modest, inexpensive."

Ryu immediately picked up on what the receptionist said and he could tell that he was relating to the way he was dressed. He understood why as he was in a very lavish hotel meant for the upper echelon of society. He then went into his duffle bag and brought out a plastic card for the receptionist to take and approve the purchase of the room.

The receptionist's eyes widened as he looked at the plastic card and saw that it was all black with words that said "The Masters Corporation". He was surprised that such a man even had a card and even had to ask how he even acquired it in the first place.

"Excuse me, sir. How exactly did you get this card?" The receptionist asked making some of the other staff members look at the card itself murmuring alone at the words.

"A good friend of mine that lives in the West gave this to me. He said that I may need it although I declined him many times that I don't need it." Ryu said referring to Ken who gave him that card in case he needed anything monetary wise, then that card was going to be the key for it.

"Is your friend Ken Masters by the way?" Someone aside the receptionist asked.

"Yes," Ryu stated.

Hearing his answer, the staff members gathered around and was surprised by Ryu's connection to the head of one of the most powerful business corporations in the world. The receptionist then continued to take care of Ryu's room request.

"I'm very sorry for that, sir. The Masters Corporation holds conferences in our ballroom around summer every year. We apologize for the inconvenience and will take you to your room." The receptionist apologized for his hasty judgment.

"No need to apologize, I can understand your reasoning behind your actions." Ryu said as he understood the receptionist's actions.

"Thank you, sir," he called over one of the bellhops to see that they made it to their room. "Our bellhop will take you to your room. Again, thank you for staying at the Shangri-La Hotel Chengdu. I hope you enjoy your stay and once more sir, I apologize."

"As I said, there's no need to apologize to me, you were just doing your job." Ryu said as he and Rose began to follow the bellhop to their hotel room.

The man looked astounded by Ryu's calm demeanor and was surprised by his lax tone, he was sure that he would've yelled at him for misunderstanding as it was not the first time something like that happened. Maybe there was more to Ryu than his external appearance but that would have to be something to think about for a later time.

Once they were in the elevator, Rose had to ask Ryu about the brief situation that occurred downstairs just now.

"Ryu, about what happened just now. What was that about?"

"A while ago before we left, Ken gave me this card and said that if there were any financial needs I needed then just use that card. I declined but he was very adamant about me using it although I've barely used it." He took out the card and realized what Ken meant when he told him about the card.

"I guess it's good to have friends in high places, I suppose." Rose said amusedly.

"Even if that may be the case, Ken is a good friend and I just couldn't bring myself to use him for things like financial security." Ryu said as they got to their floor.

The elevator stopped at the 26th floor. The bellhop had gotten off to lead the two to their room. The floor was clean and didn't have anything out of place, it really deserved to be called a luxury hotel. Once the bellhop had led them to their door, he inserted a card and with a 'click' the door opened.

"Please be sure to call us if you need anything and these are two key cards for you," the bellhop said as he gave them two cards and left to be on his way.

Rose looked out the window and could only stare in awe at the sight of the city of Chengdu in front of her, it just looked so beautiful to her. Back in Italy, she always dreamed of going to one of the hotels there but money was a problem to come by in her line of work. Nevertheless, she appreciated the money she gained from her fortunetelling that put a smile on her face and just knowing that was satisfying enough for her.

"So now that we're here, what do you plan to do for the night?" Rose asked.

"I need to do some meditation so I'll stay up here. There seems to be some things I need to take care of before it gets out of hand. Don't let me keep you from enjoying yourself." Ryu assured Rose with a small grin on his face.

"Well, if you say you're not bothered then I won't press the issue but do be aware that I'm here to talk to you," she paused briefly and put her hand on his shoulder. "Ryu, the talk we had was just one way of learning about each other. I hope that you can come to me whenever you feel the need to do so."

Ryu couldn't help but feel grateful to Rose for her concern for him. It may have come off as him being aloof but it was just to make sure that Rose didn't get caught up in the madness of the Satsui no Hadō, especially seeing that she had her own situation to deal with.

"Thank you, Rose. I really mean it." Ryu said as she was about to leave.

"It's alright, Ryu. Just know that it's best to talk to a friend at times," Rose said as she began to leave the room. "I'm going to take a swim, good luck with your meditation."

Ryu then looked outside the window and realized that Akuma was somewhere out there. He'd go to the ends of the earth if it meant that he could finally confront him and find the answers he sought. He got on the floor and practiced his meditation and he could tell that this was going to be a long session, he only hoped that the dark presence inside him did not peer his head again.

Meanwhile with Rose, she had arrived at the pool and prepared for a swim. She needed it so much and she actually missed the water, especially after the cruise ship. Transforming her clothes into a blue bikini, she stepped into the pool and decided that the temperature was good enough to swim in. Luckily, there wasn't much people in the swimming area and she could allow herself to relax.

As she swam in the clear water of the pool, her mind wandered back to Ryu. She thought of how she could help him seeing as her powers allowed her to sense the emotions of people also. She could sense the frustration and the anger inside him, most likely caused by the dark energy inside him. She felt that she should put her own problems aside for the moment and she knew that Ryu had really become a good friend to her and her to him.

'Why does this have to be so hard? Do I really feel something for Ryu?' She thought as she formed a soul orb and just floated in the water. Not trying to think about that, she made the orb dissipate and began to swim, maybe that would help.

Once she was finished, she went back upstairs and stepped into the room to find Ryu already asleep on the bed. Did time really go by that quickly? She looked at the digital clock and saw that it was already 11PM. Rose didn't even realize that time had quickly went by during her swim, she realized that she must have really had a lot on her mind to not take notice of the time.

As she changed her clothes to her sleepwear, she realized that she was sharing a bed with Ryu. She saw his sleeping face and couldn't help but form a chaste smile on her face. He really did look different while sleeping. She couldn't help but rub his cheek which she was happy he didn't notice.

"Good night, Ryu." She grabbed some of the comforter and realized that this trip had a lot more awaiting for them.

Maybe going around Chengdu would help the stress of reality calm them down a bit. Even though she had answers she sought, she'd also help Ryu with his problems.

The talk on the train helped them open up about each other and Rose hoped for more conversations like that. To her, this was one more step to gaining her own humanity and finding her own path. Right now, it was just best to leave it to fate. Rose closed her eyes and was eager about what the next day would bring.

Far off in the city of Chengdu, there stood a figure with red hair, a dark complexion and a black gi. It looked towards the direction where the two fighters were staying and could only clench his fists as he was awaiting the day that Ryu would challenge him to see how much he progressed.

"I seek the day you come and challenge me, boy," the figure known as Akuma said while looking into the heavens. "There will be no mercy from me and we will see if your fists can stand on the same pedestal as mine."

Akuma leaped high into the sky anticipating the day Ryu would confront him, would he perish like his master or would he stand above as victor?

Only time would tell.

* * *

Feather Drop: Being consistent with writing and chapters  
Well, it's been some time since I've posted a chapter and I finally got one up. I'm gonna keep this one short and just tell you I plan to be more consistent, the story isn't dead and I plan to crank out more chapters. I'm gonna try to put up three in the summer and that's quite a large order but school and work and life in general is just a hassle at times but I'm pushing through and again, just be patient.  


Also, the appearance of Akuma means that the plot is progressing. I plan to introduce some other characters such as some long forgotten ones, retro ones and even some new characters and some of the couples that I've written will also make it in, e.g Cody x Poison, Guy x Maki. Just look out for those.

Until next time guys and good reading!


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